I’m standing at the counter in a coffee shop in the middle of Bali. The aroma of freshly ground coffee beans mingles with the sticky morning air. Outside, scooters speed down the narrow dirt lane as the local residents prepare to go about their day.

Innovate or prepare to fail - Amer Iqbal believes this, and you should too. As Head of Digital Transformation at Facebook, Amer spends his time teaching corporates how to combine the strength of a large organisation with the fluid mindset of a startup. He explains how companies must continually grow and adapt, plus a word of warning if you feel you’re working for a business that isn’t willing to do this.

On May 15 2019, Amer Iqbal (APAC Head of Digital Transformation, Facebook) participated in a panel discussion in Singapore alongside Stephanie Nash (Chief People Officer, ChapmanCG) and Dr Mark Hon (Entrepreneur and Investor, Founder of Sugar Venture Capital). 

Often when companies scale to a certain size, the structures and systems that previously yielded great results no longer have the same level of impact. Innovation is not immune to this scenario, so hat happens when an innovation initiative outlives its effectiveness and moves into the legacy phase? It doesn't necessarily mean the cause is lost; it just might take a little bit of reinvention.

Ex-Googler buys a traditional neighbourhood bank in Kansas, fits it out with a tech backbone to streamline the operation, and now packages the banking license + tech combination in a white-labeled offering to power many fintech startups around the world.