Krungthai Bank's Arapat Sangkharat to join ABF Digital & Open Banking Conference 2019

He will share how banks can execute their digital transformation agendas.

Arapat Sangkharat is currently the Head of Transformation at Krungthai Bank where he leads mission-critical initiatives endorsed by the president and/or board of directors.

He has over 20 years of combined work experience in management consulting and banking. His expertise includes bank strategy, business & digital transformation, process re-engineering, M&A, organisation redesign, and technology implementation.

He has worked in five countries and served over 20 financial services institutions across Asia and the United States.

In an interview with Asian Banking & Finance, Arapat talks about execution and where banks should focus their resources to be able to balance their approach towards digital transformation.

What were your previous experiences and positions held that contributed to who you are as a banker or expert today?
I have spent the past 20+ years in the financial services industry as a banker and as a management consultant. I started my career at Citi during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, transitioned to consulting in the US and got a front row seat before and during the Great Recession, and for the last four years, returned to banking in Thailand.

I have been part of many successful engagements from wholesale to retail and across multiple areas, including business and digital transformation, retail and channel strategy, M&As, organisational and process redesign, and technology implementation. But there are no successes without some struggles and I have learned from those experiences as well.

After years of switching between banking and consulting, I have settled down in a bank-wide transformation role at Krungthai Bank, essentially a concoction of CSO, COO, and CTO.

What would you say are the best practices and digital strategies deployed by the region’s digitally dominant banks? Where does open banking fit in this agenda and how should banks capture the opportunities for this growing ecosystem?
Dominant banks take a balanced approach to define both digital strategies and execution strategies. It sounds intuitive, but from my observation, execution is less talked about when it comes to digital transformation. Defining digital strategies usually get the bulk of the attention and internal discussions usually focus on what competitors are doing and what technology could be deployed. Most will not admit it, but the underlying business case and execution model, organisational structure, approach and team often take a back seat. Execution details are usually deprioritised and deferred to the working team to figure out. Bottom line is, regardless of the digital strategies, achieving digital transformation goals require superior execution.  

Can you give us a glimpse of what you will share at the ABF Digital & Open Banking Conference 2019?
I will focus on the execution aspect of digital transformation. I think the complexity of any transformation effort is often underappreciated. All too often, I have seen grand ideas fizzled into disconnected initiatives and obscured by recitals of buzzwords and case studies. This is not to suggest that the institutions observed have not taken steps forward. They have, but not without avoidable pains.

I will also share how digital transformation and M&A integration are strikingly similar. Both are daunting efforts that require coordination across the organisation and cultural alignment from people with new versus old school ideas. Most memorable and relevant to the ABF conference are lessons learned from my experience during the BNY & Mellon Bank merger and the current business and digital transformation at Krungthai Bank.

Separately, I will also share lessons learned from the work I have done to reimagine bank branches.

The ABF Digital & Open Banking Conference 2019 will take place on 22 October in Singapore. To learn more about the event, click here. To register, click here. For inquiries, you may contact [email protected] or at +65 3158 1386 ext 212