Thriving in a disrupted world

“CIMB is in good shape for the future, but, unfortunately, the future is not in good shape.”

This was the conclusion of my opening remarks at the CIMB Annual Management Summit in November 2017. Our T18, short for Target 2018, transformation programme has been very well-executed over the past three years and the results are showing. However, during that same time, the future seems to have accelerated towards us. The world suddenly stands at the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with technological advancement in the digital, physical and biological worlds bringing change at unprecedented speed and disrupting everything – business, politics and society at large. I did not want any of our senior managers in the room that day to be in any doubt about the magnitude of the strategic challenge that is now before us.