Event report from the CIO-CEO Lunch Dialogue held on 9th September 2016. Organised by CIO Academy Asia and supported by NTT Singapore.

1. EVENT SUMMARY
9th September 2016, Marina Mandarin Singapore

2. MANAGING TRANSFORMATION: CIO-CEO LUNCH DIALOGUE
A perceptive dialogue and a sumptuous meal brought the week to an end last Friday, 9th of September. CIO Academy
Asia and NTT Singapore gathered some 30 CIOs and CTOs to discuss challenges and opportunities in aligning business
value with IT when it comes to managing Digital Transformation.
After a warm welcome from Mr. Tetsuya Shoji, President and CEO of NTT Communications Corporation and Moderator
– Mr. P. Ramakrishna, Dy CEO of CIO Academy Asia, the programme started off with an insightful dialogue with Mr.
Sreeram Iyer, Chief Operating Officer of Institutional Banking and Asia Retail of ANZ Bank.
A few salient points from him stood out during the dialogue :
1. The Board must invest by educating the directors and leaders of the company to be more digitally savvy
2. CIOs have to work closely with their CEOs to drive the business agenda and strategy of the company and spend
more time with the customers
3. Technology replaces certain process-related jobs but helps to free up resources and creates opportunities for
people to focus their efforts on high value work
4. CIOs should be bold enough to terminate IT investments which no longer have any business value to the
organisation
A panel discussion soon followed, with Mr. Damian Fazackerley (CIO of Havi Logistics) and Mr. Len Padilla (Vice
President Product Strategy of NTT Europe) sharing their perspectives on managing transformation.
To set context for the discussion, a survey was quoted highlighting 3 main organisational barriers to digital
transformation;
1. No ‘burning platform’/no sense of urgency
2. Not enough funding
3. Limitations of IT systems
The panel did not totally agree with all 3 reasons, they felt that with proper corporate sponsors and the current wealth
of digital disruptive technologies available, there were no real reasons and excuses for not overcoming the barriers to
embark on the Digital Transformation journey.
The panel also shared their views on the following points;
1. CIOs should be the change agent and drive transformation by hiring the right talent
2. Innovation is no longer an option, it must be done by all organisations, it’s the only way to stay competitive
3. Millennials are digital natives, they are more comfortable with the use of digital technologies, they will be your
future tech talent and customers
4. Write your own ‘in-flight magazine’, don’t let your CEO read them on board the plane and dictate what the tech
team should be doing for your organisation
CIO Academy Asia would like to thank our panelists and delegates for their valuable contribution and participation. We would also like to
acknowledge NTT Singapore for supporting this event.
*Photos of the event are available at the CIO Academy Asia Facebook Page: facebook.com/cioacademyasia. Do show us your support by hitting the
“Like” button on our facebook page!
Mr Tetsuya Shoji, NTTCom

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