AI, machine learning to continue with wide-ranging changes in business, IT

Digital reality to be increasingly adopted amongst enterprises, says Deloitte’s Peter Ho.

Peter Ho leads the Technology Strategy and Transformation for Deloitte Consulting in Southeast Asia. He has more than 25 years of business and IT experience and has deep industry knowledge in telecommunications, media and high tech. He also counts Enterprise Architecture Design, Cloud Transformation & Manage Complex Transformation Programmes amongst his domain expertise. 

Ho leads systems integration projects such as telecommunications platforms including BSS/OSS, CRM, Big Data Platform integration for Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) clients.

As a judge, Ho sat with Singapore Business Review to discuss his views on technologies that will continue to transform global business, how telecoms companies can stay relevant to customers, as well as the key criteria he underscored in judging entries to the Technology Excellence Awards 2022.

Having a 25-year of experience consulting in the TMT industry, what keeps the excitement alive to serve clients in these industries?

Technology is changing constantly and rapidly, and it presents the TMT industry players with different challenges and opportunities, both in good times and bad. I am challenged every day to keep up pace with the changes, and I enjoy the constant learning that I need to do in order for me to serve my clients better.

Along your career journey, what experiences or people impacted the career that shaped you into the industry leader you are today?

The notion of stewardship has resonated greatly with me during my career. I was fortunate to have had seniors who were stewards of my career – they took interest in me as a person and provided me with opportunities to help me grow. I have benefited greatly from their wise counsel, and I do my best to pay it forward by being a steward for the juniors in my workplace and in the industry.

Based on your experience, what are the most important character traits and values that aspiring technology consultants must cultivate?

I believe that they must be a self-starter. In the consulting profession, there is no cookbook, no operational manual.  One needs to take the initiative to see how they can bring their own unique voice to add value to the projects and client service work.

As customer behaviours shift, how can TMT companies better serve their markets?

The three pillars that form TMT - Telecommunications, Media and Technology - are quickly converging and maturing.  TMT companies should figure out how to stay relevant to their customers. For instance, the media companies of today (for example, platforms like Spotify, on-demand streaming and social media like Instagram and Tik Tok) are very different from the media companies in the 90s (for example, music stores like Virgin Records, linear broadcasting and official rating agencies such as Nielsen ratings).

What TMT technologies or trends do you foresee sweeping the market in the next few years?

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will continue to be a key trend. It is also anticipated that Digital Reality (such as Augmented Reality and Digital Twin) will become more mainstream in enterprise applications.

As a judge in the SBR Technology Excellence Awards, what projects or innovations are you expecting to find amongst the entries? What are your criteria for judging?

There has been a lot of focus on startups that are related to the consumer/individual.  I think more innovation can be done in the enterprise space to help companies to be more productive.  My main criteria will be the ROI and ability to scale