Fleet data is no longer the constraint in Southeast Asia; interpretation is. At Geotab Connect 2026, the company’s executives pointed to a shift among fleet operators in the region: moving beyond basic track-and-trace towards extracting operational value from vehicle data, even as many still lack the tools or expertise to do so effectively.
According to Ezanne Soh, Senior Regional Manager, APAC, Geotab, this shift across fleets is driven by broader digital transformation efforts aimed at reducing total operating costs.
“Fleets are now looking at ways to become more efficient, to better track their drivers, and to improve their fuel usage,” she told Frontier Enterprise in Las Vegas during Geotab Connect 2026.
Last year, Soh identified Indonesia and the Philippines as the fastest-growing markets for Geotab in Southeast Asia, and this year, that trend remains on track for several reasons.
Why Indonesia and the Philippines?
“Indonesia is an easy one,” noted Sean Killen, Senior Vice President, Growth Markets, Geotab. “It’s because of the population size. If you capture even a small percentage of the market in Indonesia, you already have a sizable business.”
Additionally, there are a lot of multinational tech companies setting shop in Indonesia, Soh said.
“They are investing heavily in the Indonesian market, setting up their own data centres, so that is a significant growth market in terms of GDP. That is why they are embracing that whole journey into telematics adoption and digital transformation, to improve their fleet management operations,” she explained.
Over in the Philippines, another archipelagic country, Killen pointed to a substantial level of foreign investment, particularly from large enterprises. Historically, he said, the Philippines has been relatively accessible for business compared to some other markets in the region.
“You see a lot of multinational companies with a footprint in the Philippines, and a lot of early adoption of telematics in Southeast Asia is being driven from foreign corporations,” Killen observed.
Killen cited Coca-Cola as an example, noting that the company is working to deploy telematics across its fleets to improve safety.
“The Philippines has a large Coca Cola operation. So, Coca Cola would push into the local operations and say ‘You should have telematics.’ With that example, you can do that for any industry that has a foreign entity driving it into the Philippines. They are asking for telematics now,” he observed.
Soh noted the presence of global players influencing fleet management practices in the Philippines, which is contributing to increased telematics adoption in the country.
“The appetite in terms of trying new technology is higher in the Philippines compared to Indonesia,” she said.
Elsewhere in APAC
In Australia, where Geotab already has a large footprint, recurring challenges for fleets include unreliable cellular coverage in remote areas. Geotab, which has partnered with Starlink, has enabled asset tracking in locations with limited connectivity, but this depends on agreements with local carriers that control access to the necessary spectrum.
“Telstra is very much a monopoly in Australia, so a lot is going to depend on what happens there. To access the Starlink network, Elon has to work with a carrier because they control the frequency spectrum. We are speaking with multiple carriers, and Australia is a strong use case because of its remote areas. Hopefully Telstra supports this so we can roll out that capability as quickly as possible,” Neil Cawse, Founder, President and CEO, Geotab, told media during Connect 2026.
Another development shaping Geotab’s operations, including in Australia, is its acquisition of Verizon Connect’s international commercial business in October 2025, covering Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, and Germany.
“This acquisition brings Verizon Connect employees in Australia and Europe into Geotab and expands our ability to serve fleets of different sizes, including small to mid-sized fleets,” Cawse said in a separate statement.
According to Killen, the acquisition has allowed Geotab to address a segment it had previously not focused on.
“Geotab customers’ average fleet size is probably above 50 vehicles. Across our 3,000 to 4,000 customers, fleets tend to be large by typical standards. In the Verizon business we acquired, the average fleet size was much smaller. We weren’t addressing the small and medium business segment in Australia,” he explained.
Now, Geotab is serving fleets with 20 or fewer vehicles, Killen noted.
“They all want it because they know the products, but it’s not a segment we’ve traditionally sold into. Many assumed it was not available to them, but now it is, and adoption is increasing quickly,” he said.
Global expansion
During Connect 2026, Cawse announced Geotab’s expanding presence in Latin America. He said the company is now established in Mexico and is increasing its presence in Brazil.
Killen compared the dynamics of telematics adoption in Brazil to that of Australia, where Geotab has been operating for over a decade.
“Australia has adopted telematics for two decades, so it is relatively mature. In a country like Brazil, there are protectionist policies, tariffs, and hardware requirements that can make it difficult for foreign companies to operate. Telematics adoption in Brazil is behind Australia because of that. We entered Brazil about five or six years ago, whereas we’ve been in Australia for around 15 years, and that affects the market significantly,” he said.
With Geotab’s increased use of AI across its offerings, Killen said localisation has become easier.
“Now you can tailor content more specifically, which was not as feasible a year and a half ago. You can say, ‘I want something specific to the Philippines.’ Previously, the output would have been more generic,” he said.
From marketing, business development, and lead generation perspectives, AI introduces efficiencies, Killen noted. It also affects how quickly the company can respond to regulatory requirements.
“If we receive a regulation from a country, or need to develop a product feature, we can move faster. Previously, it could take three months to build, followed by testing. Now it can be developed in a week, tested within a month, and deployed within a shorter timeframe,” he said.
