Chari: Digitalisation is not about building a great website or an app. Every company should be a technology and data company.
KUALA LUMPUR: Artificial intelligence (AI) and rapid digital disruption are reshaping industries, compelling companies to eliminate inefficiencies, leverage data and reskill workers to stay competitive, according to speakers at the inaugural chief financial officer (CFO) forum 2025.
UEM Sunrise Bhd
board member and financial adviser Chari Thandalam Veeravalli Thirumala said the pace of digital disruption is accelerating, with companies increasingly displacing one another in the market.
“Short Message Service or SMS used to bring in billions in revenue, and then another company came along and took that business away – that’s WhatsApp,” he said, pointing to how quickly established business models can be displaced.
“We went from renting digital versatile discs or DVDs to watching Netflix. Companies like Grab, Uber and Amazon have disrupted sectors.”
Chari, who was also group chief financial officer of Malaysia’s Axiata Group and Celcom Telecommunication for nine years until December 2016, stressed the importance of eliminating inefficiencies and using technology to create value.
He pointed to examples such as Visa working with telecommunications companies to tackle credit card fraud, and Airbnb’s rapid growth from zero to 650,000 rooms in 192 countries in just four years – compared with Marriott’s 679,000 rooms across 80 countries built over 88 years – to illustrate how technology can fundamentally change the game.
He noted that data-driven decision-making is key to maximising the benefits of digitalisation.
“Digitalisation is not about building a great website or an app. Every company should be a technology and data company,” he told a plenary session entitled “The ultimate talent and tech synergy”.
“Don’t jump into tech for the sake of tech. If technology helps and contributes to the bottom line, then tap into it.”
On AI, Chari said the next wave, including agentic AI, would have an even bigger impact.
“AI is going to change the game even more. There are companies that have appointed AI as a board observer, and even those founded by a single founder but run by AI,” he said.
“The idea is not to know C++, but to know if there is a use case.”
When asked whether the efficiency brought by AI would lead companies to cut headcount, Chari called for a broader perspective.
“If you look at history, when computers were introduced, people feared they would take away all the jobs. Yet, people didn’t go away. The pie simply got bigger and technology has helped grow the pie,” he told StarBiz on the sidelines of the event.
He drew parallels with past workplace changes, such as the absence of stenographers after bosses began typing their own correspondence on computers.
“That doesn’t mean all those men and women lost their jobs – they were upskilled and moved into other roles,” he said, adding that AI would similarly create new opportunities.
While he acknowledged that AI would take over some jobs, Chari stressed the importance of adapting.
“Upskill yourself – the water will find its level,” he said.
Cargill South-East Asia director of finance Humayun Habib said innovation is not just about finding and fixing problems, but also about creating value for the business.
He said companies should always look for ways to improve their processes and enhance the outcomes they deliver.
This, he said, required recognising the role of teams on the ground in shaping and refining how work gets done.
“Generally, as leaders, we only know so much. The teams who are actually on the ground, executing business transactions, are the ones most familiar with the processes,” he said during another plenary session entitled “Driving growth and innovation: initiative and culture”, adding that this insight should be harnessed to close gaps and drive meaningful change.
The forum, which was held here from Aug 13-14, was organised by Star Media Group Bhd with Airwallex as a gold sponsor.
Airwallex is a financial technology company that assists businesses to accept and manage global payments in multiple currencies from one platform, streamline financial operations and improve overall efficiency.
