Organizations should never set up a central digital
transformation office. It should be owned by everybody
in the organization itself. It's not as CIO is job.
It's the CEOs job. Hey everyone.
My name is Henry Surya Vera Wang.
And you're listening to the tekhelet journal, the show,
where I'll be bringing you. The greatest technical leaders
practitioners and thought leaders in the industry to
discuss about their Journey ideas and practices that we all
can learn and apply to build a highly performing technical team
and to make an impact in your personal work.
So let's dive into our Journal. Hello everyone.
Welcome to another episode of the tekhelet journal with Neo
host Henry Surya where oven, it's really good to be back here
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I'll guess for today's episode is Richard Cole Richard is the
CTO of Microsoft Singapore who is responsible for engaging with
key executive leaders across government industry and Academia
bringing in the macro technology landscape and helping customers
leverage technology Innovations for their digital
transformation. Richard was part of the founding
team for Microsoft's Flagship product Office 365.
Our conversation started with some interesting observations on
how organizations in Singapore are adapting to the covid-19
impact followed by his explanation on the unique City,
O Ro that Microsoft has four specific country or region.
Richard also shared his amazing journey building The Office 365.
As part of the founding team, sharing, some of his advisors
about the art of product management.
We also touch on the cloud and digital transformation adoption
including some of his tips on how organizations should
approach digital transformation in order to be successful.
Last, Richard also shared about his passion on responsible Tech
Nai, and why it is important to have a discussion around them,
including his contribution, to the SG, text Ai, and HPC
chapter. I hope that you will enjoy this
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So let's get the episode started right after our sponsor message.
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/, jetbrains Dash academy by Richard.
Welcome to the tekhelet, you know, show very happy to have
you here. It's a pleasure.
Thank you, Henry, really excited to be here.
So, as a city of Microsoft, Singapore, how has this pandemic
been impacting? You so far?
Yeah. It's a very interesting times.
First of all, like, to just give a shout out to all the Frontline
workers, especially the healthcare workers who have been
taking care of us, and by supporting them.
We stay at home. That they can really focus on
their jobs to take care of the public itself.
And I think this is really unprecedented.
There's no organization with any kind of playbooks to be able to
anticipate something as drastic. As this as we all go into
lockdown, circuit breaker here in Singapore restrictions and
things like that. It's been a really eye-opening
experience. I think, as our CEO say that in
the early months of this year. We literally saw two years worth
of digital transformation efforts into Months as
organizations quickly go into the mode out.
How do I keep my business running while having my workers
and my office work is all working remotely.
Also at the same time, assisting the public institutions over
here in Singapore in terms of helping the fight this and
contain the spread of the virus itself.
It's really eye-opening. It's really humbling to see how
many different organizations and volunteers came into the mix
itself to really lean in and help.
Whatever smaller the ways that they can same thing here for us
at Microsoft. We volunteered.
A lot of our weather. Is it Technical Resources as
well? As our software cloud services
to assist organizations who are tasked to manage the spread of
this virus as it happens in the early months.
It's been really impactful. Something.
I'll remember for the rest of my life.
Yeah. Likewise.
I think what you mentioned insatiable?
And she had two years of digital transformation.
Sped up in two months. That's pretty unprecedented.
And nobody can even imagine the situation but also it proves
that we are all adaptable to the top situations and I'm sure that
we can come out successful at the end of this.
Maybe let's start by sharing your career Journey or so.
What have been your major highlights or any turning points
in your career? Ah, okay.
I think one of the major turning point was, when I first
installed, this browser called Mosaic mocking my age by sharing
that, but I remember when Marc Andreessen released it and And
few of my friends back and fill a packet.
That's why I first started my career tested it and play with
it and it was like, wow. Now, we have a visual overlay
onto the internet itself. And it was like, man, this thing
is just going to be huge. So earlier on, I think probably
one of the biggest things that I did in my career was really
making the move to Silicon Valley, moving to the San
Francisco Bay area in 99 through, Hilo packet and
embarking on that Journey from being in our deal.
All the way to Business Development and product
management, but it was exciting times.
You live through the.com, boom and bus and just being
surrounded by. So many intelligent people,
doing all kinds of innovative disruptive businesses and
technologies that has ship really the way I think about all
the Endeavors weather. Is it in the tech world of the
business world? So that was one of those.
I think the second one was when I move up through the Puget
Sound area, Seattle area to join Microsoft 2006.
Was another major highlight is in self having the shellac to be
part of the founding team of Office 365.
It was just amazing being in that.
It's not even a front row, seat of observing.
But even right inside the arena itself of really changing the
business models of Microsoft right at the very beginning when
we were embarking on this Cloud Journey itself.
So, those were the two. And then 2011, coming back to
Singapore, and I was another one did a whole bunch of different
strategic. Projects, as well as I took a
stim outside of Microsoft where tsingtao over here in Singapore,
render Cloud business for about two and a half years before
returning into this role as Microsoft.
Singapore CTO. So in doing this for the last
four plus years now is really exciting.
I think just being able to contribute to Singapore's
digital transformation. Journey itself has been very
enriching. Thanks for sharing that I
realized, Microsoft is probably one of the big companies who has
a country or Regional specific City.
Oh, Can you share a little bit? Why is it so unique that
Microsoft requires this position?
It's a really great question. I think, when you think of it as
a global technology company, we have always view our
organization as having a very key responsibilities in the
different communities that we run our business.
And I think having this role is a very solid recognition to the
uniqueness that each country faces in is technology.
Agenda in its macro digital. Transformation, agenda itself.
As we all hear from the last number of years around things
like industry 4.0, and the need to really harness the powers of
technology to advance organizations communities, and
even countries themselves. So, this is unique and many
cents, roll itself, really lends, its view on what's really
the country's priorities when it thinks about its Community is
Citizens is government services its Industries.
For example, and here Singapore. Some of the priorities industry,
how as a small country. We have to be able to operate,
and continuously, renew ourselves to be able to keep
providing jobs for the populations.
For example, ensuring that everybody has a good likelihood
and be fulfilled in whatever they do in different parts of
the economy is whether it in manufacturing, Healthcare
government services, technology startups.
So businesses of all sizes smes As companies all the way to the
larger corporate and then sees that are operating here.
So it's really interesting. I think that's always some of
the challenges if you will to think about the different agenda
across all the different countries.
I'm sure you have lived and grown up in different countries
as well. So you can see that weather.
Is there a different pace or different attitudes and lends
towards technology? I think aggregating that unique
lens and view helps to inform us as a company.
What we should be doing to be able to serve our Our partners
and communities and societies that we operate in, it's pretty
unique in that sense. So do you have the independence
to make decisions at least within your country and region?
What kind of R&D or directions or even like how do you want to
strategize the business side of the Microsoft for Singapore?
At least? Yeah.
I think there's a certain amount of that in terms of agency that
we bring in from a Viewpoint, from a country perspective
through the larger Microsoft organization itself.
And like I mentioned earlier, Earlier this helps us to inform,
whether is it. Our product strategy to the way
we think about government policies that happens in the
country. So to the way, the country
thinks about leveraging technology for the well-being of
its citizens, for example, so, there are definitely certain
amount of autonomy, as well as agency that we can bring in into
that lens. So that whether is it in
research or the product engineering teams, I can
corporate that are building the Say half a very good view of
what the global needs looks like and what are some of the local
sensitivities will look like? And it's kind of nice.
I marry my previous corporate product experience when I was
based in Richmond. And then looking at rolling out
a product for a hovel to now something that is very specific
to a country. I think that was a very nice
unique position that I was able to leverage draw.
The last couple of years. Cool.
So maybe if you can share, what are some of the current macro?
Trends around the region. What has Microsoft been focusing
on if you can share with the audience?
Yeah, I think when we think about let's say micro Trends or
maybe I'll just think about it from a technology Trend
perspective, asia-pacific itself.
It's a very large area huge in terms of the size of the
population itself. But yet it's also comprises of
many different countries with many different cultures and
different pace of Technology adoptions as well as we have.
Many developing countries, as well as some of the I would say,
medium sized developed countries as well.
I think there is no one macro Trend that you can just point to
and say this is it. But I would say that this is a
region, that's really exciting. Like many people would say.
Oh, this is really a region that is really mobile-first.
Its population have experienced the internet through their
mobile device first and that experience itself lends a lot of
insights into How technology companies should think about
making their products relevant to the population itself?
So mobile is definitely one of those and I think when you think
about intelligent technology as well as Cloud Technologies, for
example, itself, these are all very good opportunities for
different countries to even LeapFrog from where they are
today into the future. Because they may not have that
much Legacy baggage or systems, or whatever to deal with, and
that's always very fascinating to watch.
It's almost like they can just take advantage and say, you know
what? I don't have to take the steps
that some of the developed countries have done in the past
before I can straight away go into the next latest and
greatest and really bring the benefits of those Technologies
to my organizations or my citizens for that matter.
I think it's pretty interesting. When you mentioned that Asia and
this region can LeapFrog, whatever progress that the
developed countries has done in the many years.
And especially now we see the covid, the pace of acceleration
of Technology, I think is pretty fast like, what you mentioned
earlier, two years in two months.
So I could foresee that more and more adoption and more and more
technology playing a big part in our life and in our work, every
day. I'm very interested in your
story in, founding The Office 365.
Maybe if we can go there. Can you share a little bit?
What is your role there? And how the story actually
started coming up with this Office?
365. Oh, I'll just give a little bit
of that Insight. Yeah.
I was put on quite drafted into that team.
In fact, Maybe. Is not so well-known right now,
but the first instantiation of the name of Office 365, horse
actually call business, productivity online services.
That was when Microsoft naming convention had more descriptive
names inside our products itself.
I came from the quote-unquote Telco.
Well, network service providers will also have that knowledge
and understanding of running like big systems.
What are all the requirements and delivering services to
customers? This was a a time when if you
remembered in the mid or early 2000s, when you see the
technology trajectory of processing, power storage, for
example, as well as bandwidth increasing at a very rapid pace
and we were smashing Moore's, Law life and write in all these
Technologies. And the questions started coming
around to say, hey, what does that mean?
When it comes to software? How will software be consumed by
customers like a? Humors in the future.
And I think that was some of the early days of the thinking to
say, oh, then software will be delivered online, rather than
through DVDs. For example, I think not many of
your listeners or maybe some of your listeners still remember,
installing software through DVDs, but I don't remember when
was the last time we did, that just download an app and that
was it. And the software just gets
consumed online through a browser or through an app.
And I think That was really exciting when we started really
thinking about how the future of software will be like, and then
I was running technical product management.
So really around things like features functions of the
platforms. How do we think about the
commercial aspects of it? Where do we place their centers
around the world? As well as all the legal
compliance requirements around the world as well.
We live on a very diverse planet and many different countries.
Have house eight different levels of the way.
They think about technology. G and what are some of the legal
and regulatory requirements around that.
So we have to navigate through a lot of that when we started
rolling out to the different countries, but yeah, I was just
incidentally, drafted in with in like, less than six months in
joining Microsoft. And I always say this is my
lucky draw and I just happened to be in the right place, right?
Time and ended up with a very smart team of colleagues who
came from different parts of the organization to start this new
business for Microsoft. So if I get it, right, Also
during that time, Microsoft Office is still around and it's
a thing is tremendous growth people.
Install office almost everywhere in the office and school or even
personal computers. So I could foresee that there
are lots of probably challenges as well.
Internally. Like, why do we build a
different version of office? Not to mention that you probably
need to rewrite most of the parts because I don't think the
installable office can easily translate to The web-based
Office 365. Maybe can you share a little bit
of the challenges there? Well, some of the challenges I
think. This is not something new I
think is a challenge that I would say will confront or
already been confronted by many different organization
technology. Let's say foundations typically
changes over time and they have that impact of changing
potentially disrupting your existing business model.
So for us, it was really about delivering software or DVDs or
doing the installation in the traditional way as you look at
that and you look into the future itself.
If and you say wow, the world is going to look very different in
the way. Technology is going to be
consumed if we don't do something right now and even
though it's in a very small way and commit their organization
and its people to really think about the future for the
organization, then we will be in trouble and then Microsoft will
probably cease to be relevant to many organizations around the
world. So we had to do that.
I think part of it is survival, but part of it is also making
sure that we can harness all the creativity from across the
Shouldn't we have a lot of smart people.
I've worked with so many smart folks that can I imagine I
learned so much from them, but when they all came together and
think about what that future looks like, and that started
this journey of us transforming our business models, from
traditional software, tools, and platforms, being to something
that is on the cloud that lives online and anybody literally,
with a laptop and a browser can access to it.
It's not something that just unique to Microsoft.
I think it's probably relevant to a lot of many different
organizations out there as they think about their existing
businesses. There's this thing cash cows, if
you will and then what's going to be their future, that's going
to look like one of those classic book by click
Christensen, is that innovate? This dilemma, so that was
quote-unquote the go-to book that we go through to think
about how we need to transform your organization.
And if I may I'll just make another plug for a book.
Don't worry. I don't get any licensing
royalties on that, but that's just book that a friend of mine
recently point out to me. And I read it cover to cover.
In a short matter of just a couple weeks.
It's called loon shots, not moonshots balloon shots.
It's really nice. It really talks about how
organizations come together where some parts of it running
the existing business and some parts of it, you know, waiting
for the future and really having the organization's leadership
committing to both and be able to run all of that and then over
time transform the organization themselves.
I've seen that book, I think in some bookstores in Singapore.
I haven't read it, but I'll sure to check it out.
Thanks for sharing that. I think one interesting part
about what you mentioned, disrupting the current business
model. So I can foresee that there are
multiple ways of how you run this, because of all, like, you
said, create a separate team. One is like the Legacy Microsoft
Office and one is the Office 365.
Do you run them as a separate team with its own goals and
targets and business numbers and revenues and things like that or
actually you are cooperating together in order to make them
seamlessly integrated and even supporting each other.
In terms of coming up with the bigger numbers, right?
Great question, because I think the reality when we go about
executing something like that, is that it's practical and
efficient to create a separate team.
First with literally different goals away.
The new team needs to think about a future for the
organization itself, its products and its strategy, but I
think keeping that connection keeping that conversation
keeping that collaboration with the existing teams are crucial
as well. It's interesting, these exact
questions that you brought up. It's all covered in that book
doing shots as well. How do I ensure that
conversations continue to take place?
So that the new team understands?
The challenges of let's say the current business itself and
also, how to harness new thinking and a new product
strategy to solve some of these existing challenges with the
current products, for example, so those are the kind of things
that I would always encourage organizations, cxos, or Ecology
leaders, to always, think about, it's not to say, you create two
separate teams or you just have two separate teams and they
don't talk to each other. In fact, that is often the
failure that happens. If they don't talk to each
other, they should be close. But yet in some extent of it, be
managed separately, and overtime, bring in recruit the
others who have been running. The current products itself into
the new businesses into the new organization.
So that as a larger organization, you have the
ability to transition, their be kept.
Conversation going, I know iPhone and scary memories of all
the debates that we have had with different teams and true
that, I think a lot of learning takes place and that has helped
us to really over time transform the way we think about the
software business. Wow.
I can imagine during that time different business.
Departments may be having their own agenda and thinking of how
to collaborate. Let's go back to your core role,
which is a technical product management.
I'm sure you have an insurmountable of features
lining up how to catch up with Existing office.
I know that you have a passion in the art of product management
as well. Maybe you can share with the
audience here who are into product management as well.
How did you tackle such a big challenge of catching up with
the existing Legacy and Rebrand it into something?
That is more modern for people to adopt.
Well, as an interesting question, product management is
sometimes part science and part there is no step process.
There is no, here's the 10 procedures.
Here's the book to read or things like that.
It really depends a lot. A lot on what you're trying to
create and land in the hands of your customers and partners.
When I think about product management.
I really think about these other set of people that really
embodies the vision of the product itself.
They are the ones that really carries the vision and really
value proposition. I mean, if you drill down to it,
yes. Value proposition of it design
aspect and all that, but I think it comes with the spirit of how
are all these becoming better in terms of Of serving your
customers needs, but at the same time, surprising them with
capabilities that. Sometimes the customers may not
know themselves as well. I think that's when you have
reached the realm of being able to surprise and Delight the
customers with some of these capabilities that you are
bringing into the product. A lot of times, if you read the
articles on the web product manager, sometimes they called
him or her, the CEO of the product and yet, he or she has
nobody reporting to him. He or she has to go run and
convince engineering to do this and planning people to do that
or text people do this. But I think it's really an art
in itself that person really has to think like an engineer in his
head. Have a heart of a designer
really like feeling the product itself.
And I think the last skill is really have the tank of a
diplomat. I learn this all from someone.
I'm trying to recall that person's name right now, but at
the moment I cannot really I think Product managers play
these kind of roles at different times depending on the teams and
their stakeholders, as well as the colleagues that they work
with. Wow, very, very insightful.
During that time. You spend from the beginning
from the founding team being established until the launch.
How long did it take for you to go public?
Okay. Here's Office. 365.
Everyone can try to explain use too long now, I'll get it.
Let's see, I would say we spend quite a bit of time on
envisioning the future. Futures part of that was a good.
Maybe it was a year or so, making sure that our vision is
not skewed too far into the imaginary future where something
is, just not going to happen. But at the same time, grounded
in our observations of the technology Foundation, like in
processing like in data center architectures, for example, the
global wide area network bandwidth, for example, and the
way software development techniques and tools are
evolving as well. I think.
Over a span of about one and a half to two years.
When we first ship, the first instance of that in the US
market and then subsequently over 220 countries and then
expanding that a following year and learning along the way as we
roll that out. So felt like a long time, but at
the same time, it also felt like a short time because we were
running very fast and making sure that we can deliver what we
commit to. But at the same time, really
making sure that the product experience is what we envisioned
it to be. We want to make sure that we
don't fall short of that. Otherwise, then we could end up
delivering something that is just marginal improvement over
what we have in our existing product.
So it's got the fundamentally change and of course, it also
changes the way our customers think about our products.
How would they procure it? How would they use it, how they
get it upgraded? Things like that.
TimeWise was about, I would say two years or so.
It was an exciting Journey. So during that time.
And do you actually break down the team into separate sub
areas? Like, for example, Office 365 is
not just one product. You have the foundation,
obviously how it integrates with each other, including the Legacy
applications. And you have word, you have
PowerPoint. You have Excel.
For example, do you break them up into sub teams?
Where everybody has their own iteration?
Or you actually like in the initial year, you sit down
together and build the products together as a team.
Yeah. I think that question is
interesting in the sense that you mention about how About, we
just break them into the team's, the different product features
that we have in the old days. So to speak.
Generally, we try not to because I think that's falling into the
default of how we think about the product itself.
And what we did, I can uniquely was that we think of it as a
whole Suite of collaboration and communication tools.
So, bring that together because when we break it down into our
products, this is something that I really really against, we are
shipping. Our organization just to
Customers which is not a good thing.
We should be shipping a set of products and tools that they use
that really solve some of their pain points or really Delights
them. So a lot of times they shouldn't
be constrained by our organization but having that
flexibility to say, how do we change ourselves such?
That it make sure that it helps to address what the customers
and our partners needs are like so we didn't do that.
We just say, okay, maybe we need a team that is really thinking
about the whole office suite. Itself, all the different
components underneath that but at the same time, also things
like weather is it data centers, networking licensing, our
partners ecosystem, for example, so those are some of the early
days of how we have organized ourselves to tackle that.
And if we feel like some of that models is not really working.
Well, along the way, then we change it.
Wow. I learned a lot from you on this
product management. Obviously, during that time.
It's probably the early days of cloud.
I'm sure. Also Microsoft started to
explore around the cloud and probably ended up as like a The
cloud product from Microsoft. So can you probably share with
us? What is the importance of cloud
these days? And why do you think for some
organizations who have an adopted it?
Why should they move to the cloud especially those who are
highly regulated? Those are very great question.
I think as Microsoft evolves and move into the cloud services
whether is it with Office 365 or whether is it with Azure or
Dynamics? 365 business application, modern
workplace and the intelligent Cloud itself, I think.
The fundamental challenge is that it's a massive shift for
many organization when they think about their technology
needs in the past is always been, hey, I'm able to procure
software from the different technology vendors.
One of them being Microsoft and I install the software into a
bunch of servers and shove them into this corner, called the
data center, or call the server rooms that serves the
organization itself and what is evolving to or what is evolved.
Is now there's an ability for you to consume, all these
resources on a utility basis. Just like your electricity and
water. And that fundamental shifts has
many different kind of impacts whether is it to the CFO?
For example, the way he, or she things about how it impacts the
bottom line from capital expenditure, all the way to
operational expenditure itself. There are also different skill
sets that technology teams, it teams within organizations that
they have. To adopt and changes.
Well, I'll tell a little anecdotal story.
Here. I have a friend who used to be
the CEO of a company and he had this server room in the office
and it was interesting. He says, you know what Richard
one day, the air conditioning broke down and my service were
melting and this was not too long ago.
This is still fairly recently made sense.
And you just think about that. The CIO has to worry about the
air conditioning equipment of that server room besides the
Seasons and the services that he or she needed to provide to all
the users and all the stakeholders in the company
itself. Having a service provider like
Microsoft be able to help with that fundamentally changes.
The way he or she thinks about technology transformation
adoption and things like that. So a Microsoft we call this the
tech intensity and what this is is really about the rate of your
technology adoption in an organization X.
The Elegy capability that you are building in your team's self
and then operating that in a trusted secure Paradigm.
I think that's really important for a lot of organization to
really Embrace. And I think a lot of times the
challenge with adopting the cloud, it's not something that
they can see and feel like in the past where they can say.
Hey, this is my server room. I know where my service, its.
I know where the cables connect to, and now we have to trust a
service provided. Be able to run our application
in this data centers, which sometimes we don't even know
where it is and still be able to keep our business running.
That's a leap of faith in some sense for a lot of cios and
ctOS. For example, over time.
I think they've come to accept their engage with a lot of
different service providers and say, okay.
I understand how the technology work right.
Now. I have many sneak peeks behind
us behind the curtains to see how these Mega data centers are
run, how their security is being handled.
I can trust it. I can start really thinking
about leveraging these platforms for my digital transformation.
Just recently. I was speaking to a crowd of
financial leaders, for example, and it's interesting.
I've given this talk in discussions over the years and
in the early years, it was quote unquote.
Why cloud? And now is okay Bridget, we get
it. We are definitely going there.
It's going to the cloud. We just want to make sure that
on an ongoing basis. There is a partnership and
engagement. Around things like Risk
Management, for example, security Assurance, for example,
these are topical, concerns and issues that the risks and
Assurance. People within that see the
banking industry that are concerned with the technology
itself and platforms. And the Paradigm is largely
embraced by a lot of organizations right now, and
they are certainly leveraging that.
And now the conversation has really shifted.
So, it's interesting. I started my cloud Journey Back
In what 2006? Yeah.
Wow, it's been 14 years already. It makes me out old guy in a
cloud, but you can certainly see that conversation has shifted
and adoption have shifted over the years.
And especially in the last, I would say probably the last five
years. So, I mean, like, in those long
years. I'm sure you have a lot of
experiencing, a lot of organization.
Trying to digitally transform, adopting cloud and things like
that. Could you probably either share.
What are some of the tips for successful digital?
Omission or maybe some misconceptions that people
should avoid when adopting this digital transformation.
Ah, that's a very good one. Maybe this is a personal one
organization should never set up a central digital transformation
office. It should be owned by everybody
in the organization itself. And I think that's sometimes a
challenge when I talk to you, key decision, makers and cxos in
an organization. Sometimes they will feel like oh
this whole transformation. I'll just set up an office for
that. At, and they will take care of
everything while we run the business.
I think, when you think about such a fundamental shifts, in
terms of embracing technology into all aspects of an
organization. It is not something that can be
outsourced. No centralized in some digital
transformation office. If you will, I would say, is the
right thing to do because if an organization things about how
they are, let's say, transforming their products and
services that they are serving their customers, that would
require some set of change. The optimizing their operations
in the back end. That's also another set of
stakeholders that needs to come into play.
Or they are thinking about empowering the employees with
the latest and greatest, communication and collaboration
tools, for example, or maybe new ways in terms, of engaging, with
customers, especially in times. Like this, during the covid-19,
pandemic customers who were very used to one form of engaging,
with customers like maybe in a retail store, maybe in an
office. Now, we have to think about new
ways of of engaging customers virtually through an online
forum. For example, these are all the
concerns. These are all the destroyed
transformation efforts that touches every part of the
organization. So it's not as cios job.
It's the CEOs, job, every company.
Every organization. It's becoming a technology
company and they are harnessing technology in the way.
They transform their products and services and the way they
empowered employees optimize their operations or engage with
customers. So I think, It's really one of
the key ways to think about how an organization really needs to
think about digital transformation and be able to
permit that through the organization itself.
It's not owned by a central office.
It needs to be owned by everyone.
But obviously the dealership needs to lead by example and
really drive that from the front interesting.
You said that because I just realized that so many
organizations embarking this digital transformation Journey
yet. I see a lot of them setting up
Center of Excellence. I don't know what they call.
All these days, all these Center of Excellence, kind of team
seems to be there. What do you think are some of
the common misconception? Why people are setting up that
way if it's not totally helping in terms of the whole
transformation. I think it's probably a
misconception that having a center of excellence within that
organization itself would mean that the whole organization
would be able to change. It's interesting because in
terms of organizational dynamics that lends itself to an The
consequence because if you are not part of that, Center of
Excellence, you would say, oh it's that Center of Excellence
job and it's very human nature to do that.
And what happens is that they permit through the organization
and somebody just easily points a finger on to the co e and say,
oh, this is those guys job is not my job.
That's a potential for failure. I think, when we think about
digital technology adoption, it's everybody's job.
Of course, are very different levels.
I think with hear stories about how Nicole people who have
leverage low code, and no code type of platforms and created
applications for the organizations.
And when you think about that the sense of ownership and the
sense of serving their stakeholders.
It's so empowering that they say, oh, you know what?
I can take this tool and be able to create perhaps a new service
or an app to serve my customers or my internal stakeholders.
For example, I don't have to wait for it or the CTO office to
go figure out. Is for me but half a close
working relationship. So yes, I would certainly
encourage all your listeners out there to not think about having
just Central offices or Central digital transformation office
and really make it a tech intensity that is adopted across
the whole organization itself because technology is not going
to go away. In fact, it's just going to go
even more and more as we adopt technology that intelligent,
that can even anticipate our needs and stuff like that.
So, I think it's It's just a sign of of times and it will
continue to move forward in a direction.
I just remember what anecdotal story is my personal experience
going to an organization. Just like what you said, they
adopted Center of Excellence. So we went through different
levels and at a certain floor when you open.
Wow, it's so different with a lot of lights brightness and all
that. I think that's not a good thing
as well because when people see it and especially if you're from
that, team going out to that level.
The other people will just see you.
In probably creates this kind of a social friction.
I would say like this is that too.
I'm the other team probably political wise is not good to
do. So, yes.
Yes. Yes.
Unfortunately. Yes, you are spot on.
There are unintended consequences sometimes of such
arrangements and whichever organizations, the leaders need
to be very conscious of some of the unintended consequences that
can happen. So moving onto your other
interest, probably, what are the things that you are busy with or
contributing in the community or any other passion that you're
doing outside of your role in Microsoft.
I think a big part of it as you. Might know, I'm also the
chairman of s gtex artificial intelligence and high
performance Computing chapter itself.
So really leaning in working with the community here of
different organization to think about adoption of AI, for
example, in many different aspects of Our Lives or in the
organization itself, and I think really closely marrying.
The debt, is this notion around responsible AI itself as
technology? Get more and more intelligent.
I think it's more and more important.
That we really think about not only what technology can do, but
what it should do. And those are really important
issues that we need to think of, whether they have the same
reliability, the Privacy protects.
The security aspect of itself. Is it inclusive?
Is it fair? The amount of transparency
algorithms have, for example, or accountability of all this
software that is being run. I think those are very topical
issues as well as we think about the adoption of Oh gee, and it's
interesting because this area is also very cultural and that
speaks to the diversity of the planet.
If I'm not wrong. There was this way around the
world that talks about whether it was it an autonomous car or
something. That went wrong and let's say is
it going to knock down the elderly lady or the baby?
And what's the decision? And it's very interesting that
the result came up, very split depending on the culture and
where you were brought up. So there's no real right answer,
but certainly conversations that we need to talk about and so I'm
really passionate about something like this as well.
The other aspect is really learning about technology.
Technology. Just keeps going and going.
It's so fun. But at the same time, just
keeping the pace. It's really crazy.
Let me tell another story again. When we went into this circuit
breaker and everybody is working from home.
It was so interesting to see that my two boys, my two sons
just went into it so easily because they have been
interacting with a lot of their friends in school online through
games. For example, Example.
It's so normal for them putting on a headset or having a
microphone then talking and bantering about while they're
playing. The games is so normal.
I literally learn from them. What are the best might to get?
That's really it's always take upskilling for me.
That's like oh so this is how you interact with your friends
while you're playing the game and don't you get leg is a
headset better or it's a mic better.
I was just so impressed and I think the Skilling aspect of it.
It's not about just learning from That we can learn from our
kids as well. They will be showing us in many
ways. What the future could look like.
Unfortunately. This pandemic have actually
accelerated a lot of that. And yeah, they felt so
comfortable. Going online to just interacting
with their friends. They didn't feel like they need
to go back to school. I was getting worried a little
bit dad. That's online learning stuff.
It's really fine. Okay, but you miss school
face-to-face with their friends. Yeah, no worries.
We see each other on a computer. We just are so maybe it's
sometimes what a Microsoft we term of as a growth mindset
versus the fixed mindset. Sometimes we have to confront
our fixed mindset every day and say, okay, we may have a fixed
mindset around how this thing should work or how that thing
should be like. And yet, when we encounter
something else that looks different from us.
We can either be curious about it.
Learn more about it and perhaps, even adopted, or at least be
curious about it. So I think that's that growth
mindset that We talked about quite a fair bit and that
willingness to learn and I was like, yeah, sometimes my kids do
stuff that I don't even know of. So, I better go learn from them.
Sometimes they find a little bit and then they will say that.
Aren't you like the CTO of Microsoft Singapore?
Shouldn't you know this stuff? Yeah.
I was about to say that sometimes I can totally relate
to that. It's like a wake-up call.
We have been in the industry for many years.
Dealing with technology. We assume like, we had to
expand. We know everything about tech,
but yeah, there are other areas, especially with youngsters they
are. Mode of using technology, seems
to be different if you know about it, of course, you know,
like Tick-Tock and all these new up-and-coming trends, how they
use technology. Sometimes it's wow.
I didn't think about that before.
So yeah, it's pretty interesting.
Anecdotes that you mentioned there.
But your kids, I also want to ask you about the
responsibilities Tech, the whole umbrella of what you just
mentioned. Is there any particular group
that you support? Like for people, if they are
interested to know more about this concept responsibility tag,
maybe you can share with the audience.
Yes, so I would encourage All your listeners.
If they are Keen to engage on some of this topic come joint
the SG Tech Ai, and HPC chapter, we welcome organizations, here
in Singapore, whether you are a technology company or yarn on
technology company, but really looking at using some of these
intelligent technology in your digital transformation Journey
itself, what we're doing within the chapter is creating the
communities of different organizations.
And having different conversations around responsible
technology responsible AI for example, and also at the same
time engaging with some of the policy makers here in Singapore
as well. So be it, whether is it pdpc,
the personal data protection commission, for example, or Mas
monetary authority of Singapore who are looking at?
What does that mean? When the AI comes into financial
services? For example, what are the
impact? What are the kind of sensitive
you? Case that we have to really
think about. So yeah, this isn't anyone
space. So I'll make a plug for SG tag
and we have a LinkedIn website. So look it up and come join us.
Join the chapter and love to have everybody from different
organizations, different technology providers as well as
end-user companies to participate in this discussion.
Thanks for sharing that. For those of you who have a deep
interest in this area. Make sure to check it out and
maybe join and see how you can contribute as well.
Bridget. It's been a pleasure, all these
discussions. Russian.
I have one last question, which I normally ask for every guest
that I have in the show. Could you share us?
Maybe if you have three technical leadership, wisdom
that you want to transfer to the audience here?
Ah, okay. Three is a lot.
But yes, here's how I think about it.
I remember sharing with my teams before, I think it comes down to
this is I can say, is 3 is the same as people people people.
At the end of the day. It's not about how well, you
know about it. Technology, if you are building
an organization's and nurturing an organization, it's the people
that forms the organization itself and the same time.
When you think about being able to do that, when you have great
people, great people will create the great products and then your
great products will then bring in the profits.
So people products profits in that order.
So I think that's really the key thing is really about the people
that you bring in is not only about just bringing the small
people, but at the same time, Nurturing them to have a growth
mindset. For example, really, really
embracing the changes that is taking place in the technology
and being curious. For example, about why are some
things are evolving in this way? And why is that a different
technology? How is that going to impact us
and being curious and learning about it?
I think, when technology leaders invest in their people and
spending time to nurture them weather, is it?
Their curiosity, they are growth mindsets.
The Will come naturally. Wow.
Thank you for that. Yeah, it's not true.
But you can be tricky. Thank you.
Again Richard for spending your time here, sharing your
experience, your knowledge and your wisdom with everyone here.
I really appreciate that. I do learn a lot, obviously,
especially your journey in Office 365.
I'm sure it's also part of your career that you share is a lot
where you grow and learn from what you did.
That anyone wants to find you online.
Where can they reach? You?
LinkedIn is the best platform to reach out to me.
I do post a lot on LinkedIn. In.
So you can search it up. Richard Cole, Microsoft from
sure you'll find me on LinkedIn. I do share a lot of what
Microsoft is doing and innovating around and the some
of the key topical topics that we discuss in doing it with
Community online as well. Another place that I can engage
us on Twitter. My handle is Rich Echo.
Just one word simple as that. That will be another way.
That folks can reach out to me as well.
Alright. Thanks Richard as so hope to see
you again in future episode likewise.
Been a pleasure talking to you Henry.
This has been fun. Thank you for listening to this
episode and for staying right till the end.
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