CIO Leadership Live: ASEAN

In this conversation, Estelle Quek, Editorial Director of CIO ASEAN, speaks with Anand G.A, Digital Services Lead for Africa, Middle East, and Asia at Mondelez International, on turning digital ambition into measurable business outcomes. The conversation was about how Mondelez navigates rapid technology shifts with a principle of being “as common as possible, as different as needed,” ensuring scalable AI platforms while tailoring experiences to local markets. Success depends on data quality, governance, and talent readiness, not just technology. Mondelez approaches AI adoption through two lenses: everyday productivity tools for employees and deliberate enterprise-scale game changers that transform manufacturing, supply chain, and sales. Governance is central, with a global AI board ensuring ethical use, bias control, and consumer data stewardship. Capability building spans both technology and business functions, supported by structured upskilling programs and internal platforms like Workday. When integrating AI into legacy operations, Anand stresses that people and data matter more than systems, strong change management and data governance are critical. Looking ahead, FMCG players can collaborate on standards and share data responsibly while competing in the marketplace. For talent strategy, Anand advocates a “step in, step out, step up” framework, encouraging employees to embrace AI, offload repetitive tasks, and elevate to higher-value roles.

In this edition of CIO Leadership Live ASEAN, I spoke with Kirsty Roth, Chief Operations and Technology Officer at Thomson Reuters, about leading transformation in a business built on trust, accuracy, and professional rigor. Kirsty’s global experience across banking, consulting, and now legal and tax intelligence gives her a unique lens on how to drive innovation at scale, without compromising on quality. Our conversation explored how Thomson Reuters is embedding AI across its operations and products, from legal research to engineering workflows. Kirsty emphasized the importance of a formal AI strategy, cross-functional leadership, and a culture of experimentation grounded in data. Kirsty also shared how the company balances rapid innovation with responsible governance, an increasingly critical issue for enterprises navigating generative AI.

In our latest CIO ASEAN Leadership Live session, I - Estelle Quek, Editorial Director of CSO ASEAN engaged Violet Chung, Senior Partner at McKinsey, on how artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) are reshaping the insurance sector across Southeast Asia. Our conversation was structured around key questions that CIOs and senior technology leaders must address to move from experimentation to enterprise transformation. We began by asking what explains Southeast Asia’s relatively low AI maturity scores, despite its digital readiness. Chung pointed to the need for holistic transformation-beyond technology procurement, emphasizing leadership alignment, change management, and scalable enterprise capabilities. As embedded insurance gains traction, we asked how insurers should evolve their business models. Chung highlighted the importance of agile partnerships with non-financial players and the co-creation of customer-centric value propositions. On GenAI, we explored what lessons CIOs can draw from early pilots. Chung cautioned that many initiatives lack integration and measurable ROI. She stressed the importance of infrastructure flexibility, workforce enablement, and a clear roadmap for scaling. I also asked how insurers should approach AI governance, particularly in underwriting and customer-facing applications. Chung advocated for embedding compliance from the design phase, maintaining human oversight, and ensuring data transparency. Finally, we examined the readiness of insurers to scale GenAI amid legacy systems and siloed data. Chung recommended infrastructure-agnostic platforms and agentic architectures, supported by public-private collaboration to close protection gaps and accelerate innovation.

In this episode, CIO ASEAN deep dives into how digital innovation is transforming the property sector in Southeast Asia and Singapore - in terms of operational efficiency, business impact and in helping the built environment move toward sustainability and net-zero goals. Joining Estelle Quek, Editorial Director of CIO ASEAN is Rich Ford, CEO of Vision Zero Connect.

Nobumasa Takeuchi, Editorial Director Japan, CIO.com, shares his findings from many conversations with Japanese technology leaders on the current state of technology adoption in Japan, the challenges that Japanese organisations face, and what the future holds.

Bryan Tan - Partner (Entertainment and Media Group) at Reed Smith - talks about the role CIOs play in protecting their organisations from potential copyright infringement when using AI-generated content, how mature copyright laws are right now when it comes to AI, and more.

Dr CJ Meadows - author, speaker, professor, entrepreneur, and former Accenture consultant - shares her thoughts on the future of work, how that is changing with AI, and how organisations should prepare for this change.

Paulo Martin Santos - Chief Network Transformation Officer at Converge ICT Solutions - shares how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming their networks and allowing their employees to focus on more strategic work, how their investment in data centres is accelerating innovation in the Philippines, and more.

Sandeep Pandey, Group Chief Technology and Operations Officer of FWD Insurance, shares his humanistic approach to implementing technology that creates meaningful customer and employee experience. In his expanded role of managing both technology and customer operations, he details how his strategies offer personalisation for his teams and customers to deliver the ultimate experience.

Simon Piff advises CIOs to go back to basics with their data strategy and outlines the standard of infrastructure organisations should have to support their AI ambitions.

Sau Sheong illuminates on the next big thing in technology and GovTech Singapore’s special interest projects in the realm of AI/Generative AI.

Geetha Gopal, founder & CEO of G Infinity Consulting, joins the show to talk about the climate tech space and her company's focus on carbon management, carbon projects, emerging technologies and management consulting.

Geraldine Wong elaborates on the rise of GXS Bank and the importance of data within the business. In addition, in commemoration of International Women’s Day, she lends her perspective on how to sustain female careers in the industry and the value of empowering female leadership.

Dr. Ralph Ostertag, Director of Digital and Technology for Asia Pacific at the Heineken Company, lays out his ambitions for his team for the year ahead and shares his top tips for businesses looking to innovate and digitalise.

Agoda CTO Idan Zalzberg outlines what digital transformation looks like for the online travel services industry, Agoda’s path to becoming a technology company as well as his ambitions for innovation and growth in 2024.

Fred Gomez, Director of Technology Services at Gemological Institute of America, talks to us about enterprise architecture and getting his organisation future-ready.

Rowena Yeo, Chief Technology Officer & Global Vice President, Technology Services at Johnson & Johnson, talks to us about digital transformation and how to put in place the right organizational structure.

Allan Wong, Director of Information Technology at Hong Kong Baptist University, talks to host Christopher Holmes about digital transformation and the use of AI in higher education.

Shariq Khan, Head of IT at ERGO Insurance, Singapore, talks to us about IT modernisation and preparing his organisation for the future.

Ng Yee Pern, Chief Technology Officer, Far East Organization, talks to us about leading digital transformation and shares his views on how digital will change the real estate sector.