025: How to DIGITISE one of the world's largest conglomerates

We live in a world where the latest technologies, including AI, 5G, and blockchain, have the capability to truly transform the way we work, live and play. The problem is, they don’t always live up to the hype. 

Far too often, the ICT industry pushes the latest technologies and solutions on the market and hope they get adopted, rather than by tailoring solutions to meet the market’s needs and proving that they can deliver tangible business value.

The supply and demand sides of the market don’t work together as effectively as they should, and that’s why we are lucky to have today’s guest, Michael Gryseels, with us because he sits at the crossroads of technology supply and market demand.

He’s currently the Executive Vice Chairman of Thailand’s True Digital Group and the Chief Digital Officer for CP Group, which is Thailand’s largest private company and one of the largest conglomerates globally. 

This combination of roles provides him not only with insights into the market’s requirements - but also the capability to launch solutions to meet those requirements. 

Prior to these roles, he spent nearly 20 years with McKinsey & Company, where he was a Senior Partner and led McKinsey Digital Labs in Asia.

Show notes: 

01:15 Intro to True Digital, CP Group and A Day in the Life of Michael

05:15 CP Group operates in 15 industry verticals. What process do you follow to identify the opportunities and source the innovation that will digitise these industries?

07:00 You have been in your roles for 3 years, can you give us some examples of the initiatives that you've implemented, or solutions that you've deployed, that you're proud of?

10:00 Status of 5G in Thailand

Which 5G use cases has True Digital identified? Does Thailand’s strong manufacturing sector create an opportunity for Private 5G?
What are the Critical Success Factors for operators to be successful in 5G?

15:10 Where would you like to see True Digital and CP Group in 2 - 3 years time?

17:15 When you look at the global mobile operators, which ones do you think are doing the best job at driving digital solutions?

19:00 When implementing digital solutions, companies often get stuck in what McKinsey defines as “Pilot Purgatory”. What advice do you have for companies to overcome this?

22:10 Which technologies do you think will have the biggest impact in the next 12 - 24 months?

24:00 Fun Questions

What do you know today about True Digital / CP Group / Thailand that you wish you understood when you started on this journey?
You have lived in 15 countries - and worked in many more. Outside of Thailand, where did you find the most exciting place to work?
When I was 16 years old, I had a blond mohawk, spent my after school hours skateboarding and attending as many punk rock shows as possible. What were you doing at 16?
Let’s say I have the power to turn back time - and I can turn you into a university student today. What would you study - and what would you want to do with your career?