Axiata Accelerates Digital Talent Transformation

Axiata Group Berhad (“Axiata” or “the Group”) fast-tracks its digital talent transformation by simultaneously staging Asia’s largest employee online activation event across its six markets in ASEAN and South Asia. The activation event galvanised 12,000 of the Group’s employees, including employees at Robi Axiata Limited (‘Robi”) in Bangladesh.

To holistically drive its digital talent building exercise, Axiata is committed to invest USD6 million over the next three years to scale up existing digital expertise and provide critical digital development and capacity building for all its employees across all levels and roles. With digital talent as a key pillar in its transformation strategy, Axiata is geared to further build a conducive, dynamic environment for its operating companies to become modern, agile and digital work cultures.

Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, President & Group Chief Executive Officer of Axiata said, “The world of connectivity and communications is fast changing, and the telecommunications industry has no recourse but to learn new ways of how we engage with customers, build solutions, create services, think differently and improve the lives of our customers. For Axiata, our employees across every business in each country whether here in Malaysia or the furthest reaches of Bangladesh, are core and fundamental to our success. Today, as digitalisation gains rapid momentum, talent becomes even more critical to the Group in determining our ability to compete and grow in our markets.

“In total we have deployed close to USD40 million on talent development since 2009 and as we journey into the next phase of our growth and to realise our ambitions of being a Digital Champion, we are dedicating significant resources to address our employees’ digital learning needs. The objective is to transform our company in the way we, as employees across the region, think, act, work and create with a digital mind set.”

As the people of Bangladesh grows appetite for digital lifestyle, Robi’s strategic focus on delivering an awesome customer experience is underpinned by the company’s digital transformation.

Robi’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said: “Robi’s drive towards digitalization is spearheaded by the people of the organization. Hence, we feel it is essential for our employees to embrace a digital mindset; towards that end, it is vital that we all are comfortable with all the digital tools and experience it in all its manifestations. Digital Jam, is one such day-long event that creates the atmosphere within the organization to prepare us for the digital future ahead.

It is particularly gratifying to be able to celebrate this digital extravaganza along with the entire Axiata family spread over six countries of Asia. Robi being a leading partner of the Government in implementing the vision of Digital Bangladesh, we believe, the day also bears a special significance for the nation’s drive towards digitalization.”
The Axiata’s group-wide employee digital training programme, which has taken place throughout 2017, is elevated with the Digital Jam, an activation day where all employees come together online to experiment with and experience new digital work tools, BOT interfacing games and many more digital leaning experiences. The Digital Jam also marks the definitive shift of the Group’s training focus going forward, where employees will be further trained on digital technologies and its business capabilities.

Datin Sri Badrunnisa Mohd Yasin Khan, Group Chief Talent Officer of Axiata said, “In this one day group-wide online digital experience on November 23, we want to provide a new and exciting digital experience where all employees will be introduced to new, creative and efficient digital work tools to give them the confidence and curiosity of doing things digitally. We want to give them a glimpse of the future work environment in the digital world and trigger the idea and realization of the tomorrow-is-here experience.”

For Axiata, with employees spread wide across mobile subsidiaries in six countries, it becomes imperative that each company places digital talent transformation at the forefront and cornerstone of its business strategy, and Digital Jam is but the start of many more such engagements.

As a leading telecommunications group in Asia, Axiata’s long term objective is to transform into a New Generation Digital Champion by 2021. Since 2013, the Group has embarked in its Axiata 3.0 digital transformation blueprint by diversifying and strengthening its core mobile business with new ventures in infrastructure and tower services, fixed-mobile convergence, digital services and enterprise Internet-of-Things (IoT). The transformation of its workforce and talent is critical in its overall long term growth plan.

RM/ 24 November 2017