Despite the global economic and geopolitical headwinds, UOB still sees opportunities to expand investments in Malaysia with the opening of Innovation Hub 2. What are your thoughts on this?
While there are economic challenges and geopolitical tensions, we believe Malaysia’s economy will remain resilient. UOB is committed to its long-term vision and growth in the region. We believe technology is vital for our growth and is an area we will continue to invest significantly. Our investments and presence in Malaysia also support the country's Industry 4.0 through the provision and delivery of innovative and smart banking solutions. We will continue investing in technology and our people through Innovation Hub 2.
How have the Malaysian government and MDEC facilitated your journey in developing Innovation Hub 2?
Credit has to be given to the Malaysian government for its investment and efforts in making Malaysia an attractive digital investment hub. We’ve known that the MSC Malaysia initiative, which has now been revamped to Malaysia Digital, has been around for years, and the Malaysian government has invested substantially in setting up state-of-the-art infrastructure and talent development programmes to attract both local and MNCs.
When we set up the UOB Innovation Hub 2, we wanted to work closely with MDEC, where we support Malaysia’s digital economy while providing employment opportunities to our local talents. Through our partnership with MDEC, we have built our talent capital. We have hired experienced talents and university graduates through the campus programme. As a result, we’ve scaled to a staff strength of 350, with plans to scale the centre to 1,000 people.
The Malaysia Digital (MD) network and ecosystem have also led to our collaboration with other local MD companies to set up Innovation Hub 2.
Having proper infrastructure in place, talents, tax incentives and grants, and the ecosystem of other technology companies that will enable us to network, build collaborative partnerships and contribute to the digital economy certainly facilitated our journey in successfully establishing UOB Innovation Hub 2.
Innovation Hub 2 is UOB’s first offshore Technology Centre. Which markets are served out of this KL hub?
UOB Innovation Hub 2 provides technology development, application and infrastructure support, and infrastructure operations capabilities to support the bank’s digital transformation agenda. In addition, as we are operating under Group Technology and Operations in UOB Singapore, we provide global support in countries where UOB has a presence.
ESG is on everyone’s mind now. So how do you bring the ESG agenda to your Innovation Hub 2 operations?
Being part of the UOB Group, we are committed to driving the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) agenda in how we operate. UOB is more than just a bank. We believe in balancing growth with responsibility, which means that while we continue to look at innovative ways to meet the needs of our customers and build our business, we are equally committed to making a positive impact on the people and communities we are intrinsically part of.
We are conscious of how our day-to-day operations can impact the environment. UOB announces its commitment to reach net zero by 2050 which aligns with the Malaysian Government's ESG ambitions.
At UOB Innovation Hub 2, we contribute to net zero by digitalising our processes. That includes managing print services, utilising more virtual meetings, implementing mandatory Sustainability Training through our e-learning portal for all UOB employees and ensuring that we use online materials in our orientation and training for employees instead of paper-based training material.
What do you wish the Malaysian government and MDEC to do more for investors in the digital tech and services space?
Since our inception in September 2021, we have experienced considerable growth and the continuous need to recruit skilled talents, especially in technology. One of the challenges for any technology organisation is finding the right skills.
The war for talent, especially in technology and innovation, has been ongoing for years. Innovation Hub 2 has invested heavily in graduate hiring and talent development, and through our experience, we’ve observed specific technical and soft skills gaps in the university syllabus. This is an area that MDEC and the Malaysian government can look into to bridge the academic-industry gap to produce job-ready graduates. We are open to working in partnership with MDEC to address this gap, including expanding on graduate programmes, industry-academic panels, talent development roadmap, etc., to meet the tech industry’s needs.
What are your further plans for Innovation Hub 2?
We are on an accelerated growth path. Our plan for 2023 is to ramp up our recruitment and expand our talent capital from 500-600 by the end of 2023. By 2025, we aim to hire 900 to 1,000 talents for the UOB Innovation Hub 2. Technology and innovation are central to UOB’s ambition to provide solutions that will make banking simpler, safer and smarter for our customers.
Besides ramping up our hiring, we also want to “grow our timber”, which means developing homegrown talents in Malaysia and within UOB. At UOB, we believe that our people are our greatest asset. Therefore, we will invest in our people through our comprehensive structured training, development programmes in technology and work on cross-disciplinary projects that will help them realise their full potential. We want them to be able to spearhead innovation, develop solutions and drive growth in the digital banking space.
Do you leverage any emerging technologies, such as AI and blockchain, at Innovation Hub 2?
At UOB Innovation Hub 2, we leverage UOB’s regional architecture and develop solutions to provide a wide range of financial services globally. AI, machine learning and blockchain are at the forefront of our minds. Currently, UOB uses AI in traditional areas like credit scoring. We are constantly exploring the use of emerging technologies in new areas of business and operations. In Malaysia, we have the UOB Mighty app that combines AI capabilities with financial technology to provide our customers with insights for better financial management.
UOB is committed to becoming a leader in digital banking, leveraging innovation and robust technology solutions for its customers. It seeks to create opportunities for the talented people of Malaysia by developing their skills with comprehensive training programmes and cross-disciplinary projects that will unlock potential.
