Driving Culture Change to Power Digital Innovation
Yew Jin Kang, Chief Technology Officer, Plus Malaysia
Yew Jin Kang, Chief Technology Officer, Plus Malaysia
The biggest shifts I have observed are:
• AI and automation have moved into mainstream operations, with generative AI driving customer service, fraud detection, and compliance, reshaping workflows and boosting productivity.
• Digital payments and fintech are accelerating cashless economies through real-time systems like UPI, PayNow, and DuitNow, pushing banks to digitize or partner with fintechs while widening financial inclusion.
• Cloud-first is now the norm, with multi-cloud and hybrid strategies delivering scale, agility, and compliance, positioning IT as a direct driver of growth.
• Cybersecurity has become a board-level priority, with stricter regulations prompting investment in zero-trust, MDR, and advanced cloud security to strengthen resilience.
• Sustainability tech is expanding, as businesses digitize ESG reporting and carbon accounting to meet regulatory and investor demands, embedding green solutions into digital agendas.
• Remote work infrastructure enables companies to tap Tier 2 city talent pools, reducing costs and unlocking specialized skills through cloud-native, secure access tools.
• 5G, IoT, and edge computing are powering industrial digitization in Asia’s leading markets, advancing smart cities, logistics, and manufacturing through real-time analytics and automation.
Many CIOs and CTOs struggle with the culture side of tech change. How do you recommend technology leaders build agile, digitally literate teams in traditionally conservative industries?For CIOs and CTOs navigating traditionally conservative industries (like banking, insurance, manufacturing, government), the technology often isn’t the biggest challenge -> culture is. My recommendations.
Successful transformation depends on co-creation, not just buy-in. Involving frontline employees early in pilots and design workshops builds ownership and reduces resistance, while tiered digital training and ambassador programs ensure literacy at all levels, from basic familiarity to data-driven decision-making.
Culture is the enabler of agility. Psychological safety encourages experimentation by celebrating lessons from failure as well as success. Cross-functional teams, staff rotations, and shared experiences between IT and business users foster empathy, collaboration, and a common language that bridges traditional divides.
Use agile practices not just in software development, but in how you run transformation itself. Pilot, iterate and course-correct based on real outcomes and feedback
Purpose must anchor change. Framing transformation around customer outcomes rather than tools creates clarity and motivation. Agile organizational design, built on smaller product-oriented squads with autonomy and outcome alignment, reinforces adaptability and speed.
Incentives shape behavior. Recognizing collaboration, curiosity, and experimentation in performance metrics and leadership KPIs embeds digital competency as a core expectation, ensuring sustainable change across the enterprise.
What are the hallmarks of a resilient, future-ready IT architecture in today’s fast-changing business landscape?A resilient, future-ready IT architecture is no longer just about stability … it’s about adaptability, intelligence and responsiveness to change. The core hallmarks that define such an architecture are:
Modern IT transformation rests on composable and cloud-native foundations. Modular, API-first design enables interoperability and rapid iteration, while containers, microservices, and multi-cloud strategies ensure scalability, cost optimization, and freedom from vendor lock-in. Infrastructureas-Code further drives consistency and speed in deployments. Intelligence and security are embedded across the stack. AI and machine learning enhance automation, observability, and predictive decision-making, while Zero Trust principles safeguard every access point with encryption, segmentation, and continuous compliance. This creates resilience against threats while enabling smarter, real-time operations.
Data and operations form the backbone of agility. Eventdriven architectures unify operational and analytical workloads, providing real-time insights for personalization, fraud prevention, and supply chain visibility. Automated operations, supported by AIOps and DevSecOps, deliver reliability through proactive monitoring, self-healing, and secure, rapid release cycles.
Technology must converge seamlessly with business goals. Architectures designed around customer journeys and value streams ensure IT directly enables growth, efficiency, and measurable impact, positioning organizations to pivot quickly as markets and needs evolve.
What advice would you offer to technology leaders who are navigating large-scale digital transformation while balancing legacy systems, regulatory demands and the pressure to innovate?• Transformation starts with clear priorities. Align goals with business outcomes, break initiatives into phases, and focus on impact and feasibility rather than sweeping overhauls.
• A dual-speed IT strategy balances stability with innovation. Core systems remain compliant while cloud, AI, and digital services drive agility without disrupting continuity.
• Governance must come early. Embedding compliance with risk and legal teams from the start avoids retrofits and accelerates trust.
• Culture drives success. Cross-functional teams, skills, and incentives foster co-ownership of innovation and break down silos.
• Data becomes a strategic asset. Unlocking and connecting legacy information enables insights that fuel automation and smarter decisions.
• Partners accelerate delivery, but strategy must stay internal. Retaining control of architecture and compliance ensures resilience.
• Agile execution sustains progress. Pilots, iterations, and feedback loops keep transformation adaptive and outcome-driven.
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