Citi Asia Pacific Digital Leaders’ Summit 2023 Discusses Future of AI and Prospects for Digital Disruptors

KUALA LUMPUR – The Digital Leaders’ Summit 2023 hosted by Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) brought together key technology leaders to discuss a myriad of topics including driving disruptions with AI adoption, new frontiers in immersive technologies for content creation, and the evolution of industries like travel and e-commerce. 

Over 200 senior delegates from leading digital disruptors, technology companies, venture capitalists, industry professionals, founders, and Citi experts convened from 10 to 12 October for an engaging series of discussions on the new economy and opportunities for growth. 

Vikram Singh, CEO of Citi Malaysia said, “Malaysia’s digital economy continues to show promising growth and resilience against a backdrop of uncertain global economic growth. The country’s foreign direct investment is also anticipated to rise significantly, evident from the increasing number of companies choosing to set up their base here. As companies capture growth in this vibrant region, we are using our global network to help clients navigate market volatility, improve working capital and manage supply chains.” 

The Summit featured speakers including Tan Sri Dr Tony Fernandes, CEO and Founder of AirAsia; Patrick Grove, Chairman and Co-Founder of Catcha Group and Jong Yoon Kim, CEO of Yanolja Cloud. Madhavan Vasudevan, Asia Pacific Chief Technology Officer for IBM; Joe Dische, Group CFO, PropertyGuru; Michael Blakey, Managing & Founding Partner, Cocoon Capital and Ryan Lee, Co-founder at PinkFong were also part of discussion sessions at the event. 

An ‘Innovation Lab Crawl’ on the third day of the event connected attendees with home-grown digital disruptors, Carsome Group and Sunway Innovation Labs (iLabs), the innovation arm of Sunway Group and Sunway University. 

Shervone Saw, Head of the Digital, Technology and Communications (D,T&C) Industry Group for Asia Pacific ex Greater China at Citi Commercial Bank said, “Asia Pacific is home to over 300 unicorns and the region continues to be a centre of commercial activity supported by a strong entrepreneurial spirit. We are actively supporting this appetite for entrepreneurship and the ongoing expansion plans of our clients’ businesses, and we are committed to serving their cross-border needs. Today, we have over 90 dedicated industry bankers serving our clients in the D,T&C space across all 11 Citi Commercial Bank markets in Asia Pacific.” 

Other topics that the summit covered included the global and Asia macroeconomic outlook, trends shaping the future of FinTech and Big Data, key trends in capital markets, as well as the evolution of start-up investment.

“Citi’s global network is critical to companies that are going global at record speed and digital companies who are born global. A recent industry survey by Citi Commercial Bank reinforced the importance of this network as D,T&C clients expressed the strongest interest in geographic expansion, particularly to Asia Pacific. Our global connectivity and partnership between our Banking, Markets, and Services businesses enables us to support our clients holistically across advisory and financing solutions, as well as their day-to-day operations to achieve success,” said Billy Liu, Head of the Digital, Technology and Communications Industry Group for Greater China at Citi Commercial Bank.

Conducted between April to June 2023, Citi Commercial Bank’s Global Industry Insights Survey polled executives from over 500 mid-sized corporates on the opportunities and challenges they are facing. The survey reflects sentiments from companies across various industry segments including D,T&C; 34% of survey respondents were from companies headquartered in Asia Pacific. 

About Citi 

Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in nearly 160 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services.

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