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“Against a backdrop of unrelenting social and economic pressures, marketing leaders look toward a future where smarter marketing leads to deeper, more valuable connections between customers and brands,” said Andrew Frank, Distinguished VP Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice.
Gartner says in the years to come marketers will face greater scrutiny over their operations. What strategies should marketers incorporate into their 2023 plans to drive results and regain the confidence of business leaders?
In this PodChats for FutureCIO, we are joined by Lawrence Yip, a seasoned marketing professional for a Singapore-listed industrial and township developer in Asia to share with us insights on CMO strategies that deliver value and trust.
1.       Name one lesson from the past 3 years that you think will have significance to the CMO and marketing role in 2023 and beyond?
2.       What would you say is the most significant change in marketing following the pandemic?
3.       Coming into 2023, how can CMOs turn the threat of a recession into an opportunity?
4.       How do you see CMOs operationalizing AI?
5.       What skills must the CMO develop further in 2023 to support growth and resilience?
6.       To what extent should CMOs depend on technology to support the business?
7.        What is your advice for aspiring marketing professionals in 2023?

Shared services are the consolidation of business operations that are used by numerous parts of the same organisation, or different business units that are part of a conglomerate. In some instances, these shared services capabilities have been honed to the point where they are spun off as independent businesses selling their capabilities to other companies outside of the group.
Just how lucrative is the market? Coherent Market Insights forecasts the global shared services market to reach US$98.17 billion by 2027.   
To know more about the opportunities, challenges and what lies ahead for shared services, we are joined by Elmer Sarmiento, director of finance and accounting operations at Personiv.
What is the business of Personiv?
Please briefly describe your role at Personiv.
How has the pandemic influenced/impacted the finance function?
You’ve built a career around shared service. What is driving the demand for shared services particularly in the finance function?
Which finance functions are best suited to outsource and by inference best suited to stay in-house?
If a CFO should decide to opt for outsourcing finance to a service provider, what considerations should be kept in mind?
Among the many technologies available to finance (both old and new), which do you think will have the biggest value to the finance function in the performance of its duties and responsibilities?
What is your advice for finance professionals seeking to build their careers post-pandemic?

S&P forecasts that Asia-Pacific will achieve real growth of 3.5% in 2023 while Europe and the U.S. will likely face recession. But Asia, being a supplier to the world, will likely not be totally out of the woods.
Technology has made financial reporting easy for everyone involved in the process, from the finance and accounts team preparing reports to the regulators, investors, and others who use those reports. That said, technology is only one aspect of the reporting process. 
With reporting regulations continuing to evolve, and market certainty remaining unpredictable in 2023, how should the CFO, finance leaders and, indeed the entire, finance department work to ensure the team is able to meet expectations? 
With us today on PodChats for FutureCFO is Ryan Gan, global reporting & statutory leader, Baker Hughes, to talk to us about the continuing transformation of finance reporting.
1.                   What is Baker Hughes and your role as global reporting & statutory leader for the company?
2.                   Finance reporting – can you describe the work conditions for the finance controller and his/her team?
a.                   In your view, what have been the most significant changes to the function since the pandemic started?
3.                   Gartner says there is mounting pressure to digitize finance. Given the many other priorities on the finance’s plate (for example, accelerating digital business), is digitizing finance (some say transforming finance) still high on the agenda? Why?
4.                   Of the many technologies being introduced – AI, data analytics, automation, etc – which do you see are the ones finance will prioritize on in the short-term, mid-term and long-term?
5.                   Hybrid/remote work is said to continue in 2023. Given all the learnings of the past 3 years, do you think hybrid work will impact the productivity/efficiency of the finance function?
6.                   Moving into 2023, what do you see are the top challenges for controllers/finance?
7.                   Drawing from your experience, what would you recommend are top action items in 2023?

2022 was a colourful year for Asia Pacific with the continuing pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war combining to strain even further the global supply chain of which APAC is a major part.
Into 2023, we remain hopeful that economies in the region will pick up from 2022 and continue their recovery journeys. One of the notable technology trends that saw significant adoption from 2020 onwards is cloud computing. While there was a notable shift in the adoption of this service, FutureCIO discussions with heads of technology, be it infrastructure, software or security, is that on-premises investments are not going anyway anytime soon. 
Indeed if there is ever one word to describe the approach many in the region are taking that would be hybrid or some combination of their own infrastructure, including on-premises and private clouds, and outright use of public operated by one of those hyperscalers.
So whatever shape or form it will take, IT infrastructure will remain an important point of discussion, planning and management in the years ahead.
In this PodChats for FutureCIO, we are joined by Ms Geetha Gopal, Head of Infrastructure Projects Delivery and Digital Transformation at Panasonic Asia Pacific to share her perspective on infrastructure trends for Asia Pacific in 2023.
1.       Define for us the scope of work of the infrastructure & operations (I&O) leader? 
2.       What do you see are important issues facing IT infrastructure managers in Asia? 
3.       Given that organisations in Asia are favouring a hybrid model for infrastructure (own, managed and public), how does this setup affect the work of the IT infrastructure team?
4.       How does the I&O team with the office of the CISO to ensure the security of the infrastructure and the data/applications it supports?
5.       Given the growing complexity of the IT infrastructure vs the difficulty of acquiring/keeping the right set of skills, expertise and experience, what will be important to I&O leaders and the team?
6.       Drawing from your experience, what are some best practices for ensuring a smooth working relationship between the CIO, CISO and I&O?
7.       Advise for other I&O leaders in 2023?

“In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity” Albert Einstein
In times of recession, the often approach taken is cutting corners. Budget cuts can come in the form of delayed expansion, modernisation plans or upgrades, cutting marketing budgets, and in some cases layoffs.
While technology spend is not immune from any budget cuts, arguments arise when the cybersecurity discussions come into play. Given that cybersecurity is a top priority among organisations in Asia-Pacific, and apply this to the reality that economies are headed towards a downward trend, how do leaders decide what to keep, what to leave out for now, when it comes to the protection of the organisation’s digital assets?
Joining us on PodChats for FutureCISO is Adrian Hia, senior regional vice president, ASEAN & greater China at Zscaler.
QUESTIONS:
1.       With the threat of a local or global recession looming, is now the time for the CIO and CTO agree in terms of what investments need to be prioritised for 2023?
2.       How should the CIO and CISO decide – together and separately – which areas make sense to upgrade, keep and defer for when the recession is no longer a concern?
3.       Given that we appear to be in a near-constant state of crisis, how should leadership plan their investment strategies, particularly around information technology? And how does one do so while pursuing the digital transformation aspiration of the company?
4.       At the end of the day, push comes to shove, what areas of cybersecurity should be prioritised and what can be left behind for another day?
5.       Topic: How to recession-proof cybersecurity strategies, what is your advice for decision-makers when addressing cybersecurity regardless of the state of the economy or business?
6.       Where does Zscaler fit in our discussion around recession-proofing cybersecurity strategies?

The chief technology officer, also known as a chief technical officer or chief technologist, is an executive-level position focused on the scientific and technological issues within an organisation. A CTO is very similar to a chief information officer.
It can be argued that the shortening cycle of technology advances coupled with the near-constant uncertainty that is the hallmark of 2022 will continue to be the norm in 2023. And as businesses continue to depend on technology to innovate both externally and internally, what must the chief technology officer do to be effective at his or her role?
With us today on PodChats for FutureCIO is Vishal Ghariwala, CTO for APJ and GC at SUSE (SUSA) to share with us his perspective on the makings of a great CTO.
1.                   What makes for a great CTO? (experience, qualifications, expertise)
2.                   Describe the role of the CTO in Asia Pacific in 2023? What is the most significant (if any) change in the role since the pandemic?
3.                   Given the many business goals, how does the CTO juggle between wish lists, priorities, and the reality of constrained budgets?
4.                   To be effective at his/her role, how should the CTO work alongside other members of the C-suite?
5.                   What remains the top challenges of the CTO in 2023?
6.                   What is your advice for those wishing to pursue a CTO career?