Will Singtel’s new CEO bring more of the same?

We dive deep into Singtel’s attempt at starting digital ventures, as well as corporate innovation in general. [Read from your browser]( [e7b9c337-b86d-40d1-b483-11d9ae376de3.png] Editor's Letter Dear {NAME} Singtel, Singapore’s largest telco and the owner of sizable stakes in other regional telcos, is about to see a change at the top. Getting a new CEO on board is a great chance to set a new direction and undo mistakes of the past. Indeed, Singtel’s report card on innovation has shown mixed results, as our journalist Melissa Goh laid out. In [part one]( of her series on the telco, she looked at its history of successes and failures in reinventing itself. In [part two]( which was released last week, she spoke to several former Singtel executives to find out why many of its ventures have failed. If you’re interested in corporate innovation, this will be a good read. Now, all eyes are on the new Singtel CEO, Kuan Moon Yuen, and how he can shake things up - or not. Being a Singtel veteran since 1993, and therefore partially responsible for the group’s work culture, Yuen may not bring the changes that are necessary to take the firm’s digital ventures up another notch. What Singtel chairman Lee Theng Kiat said regarding picking Yuen might be telling. “Our ultimate decision rests on the fact that Moon is a known entity. Moon has been with the company since the very beginning of his career. And he has exhibited an ability to work at different segments of the entire business of the Singtel group in his entire career,” he explained. Lee also gave the company’s previous CEO a pat on the back, praising her “sterling work” in the past 13 years. However, given how Singtel’s share price has been performing, some shareholders might disagree with that assessment. That said, it does take a telco veteran to run a complicated business like Singtel. The key here would be how Yuen can help innovative projects within Singtel bypass internal red tape. He may also need to push for Singtel’s regional associates to better support game-changing ventures. That may be difficult, though, as the company doesn’t own majority shares in most of those firms. The broader theme here is corporate innovation. While we often shine a spotlight on corporations whenever they crash and burn at doing something new, their track record may not actually be that bad, especially if you consider the adage that nine out of 10 startups fail. Banks in Vietnam, for example, have been ahead of the curve with regards to mobile banking thanks to VNLife, which has built many of the mobile banking apps in the country. VNLife is also [Vietnam’s newest unicorn]( I wrote last week. With backing from SoftBank’s Vision Fund and Singapore state fund GIC, it’s now set on becoming the country’s top super app while also spreading its wings to the rest of Southeast Asia. Caption: (From left) VNLife-built super apps from Agribank, Vietcombank, and Vietinbank / Photo credit: VNLife In the case of the Vietnamese banks, successful innovation could mean working with the right partner to bring a project to life. It could also mean investing in or acquiring startups like [Thunes, which is building a superhighway to unify the world’s payments systems]( or building internal ventures like Lippo’s Ovo or Axiata’s Boost.  Solving the legal minefield Corporations do have a huge advantage in one area: navigating regulations. Major players in sensitive areas like the media, finance, and telco industries find themselves hiring an army of lawyers and public policy people to navigate a complex region like Southeast Asia. Startups, too, [can’t avoid]( hiring people to handle regulations. In addition, our industry analyst Simon Huang notes that [Southeast Asian states are tightening the screws on tech giants]( with legislation on pending data privacy, value-added tax, and more in various countries. All of that is in addition to the licenses and approvals that are needed to run some critical services. While regulators typically don’t pay much attention to startups, that won’t be the case if those same startups grow larger and become more prominent. Southeast Asia no doubt has lots of potential, but the costs of doing business could rise as a result of these new taxes and laws. As always, [subscribe]( to get quality content. (Yes, you’ll need to fish out your wallet once more, but it still costs way less than navigating the region’s legal maze.) See you in another week! Cheers, Terence Editor-in-Chief To ensure that you don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis, add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. 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