She is the first managing director of IBM Thailand in its 66-year history who is not a veteran of the company.
Patama Chantaruck, the current boss of the technology giant's local unit, is also the first to be appointed to a brand-new position: vice-president for Indochina expansion, overseeing development in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.
Her ambitious goal is to build up a sales and marketing hub for the subregion and create a revenue contribution from Indochina of 5-10% within three years.
At the age of 50, Ms Patama has nearly 30 years of experience in the IT and telecom industries. She has helped customers worldwide optimise their technology investments and find success in the new era of digital transformation.
Recognised as a dynamic and motivational leader, Ms Patama has held many leadership positions at the global, regional and country level, most recently as general manager of worldwide software asset management and compliance at Microsoft. She sat down with the Bangkok Post to share her story.
What was the inspiration for your computer journey?
Thirty-five years ago, my dad told me that if I could enter university, I would be given a computer as a reward, and I did it, at Prince of Songkla University. My dad had a vision that the computer would play a big role in business.
Ms Patama says IBM's AI technology, including Watson, is well positioned to help businesses.
After finishing a master's in engineering and an MBA from the US, I came back to work in Thailand, starting at Seagate Thailand as an information systems manager, then I worked as a business development manager at Shinawatra Datacom (now Advanced Datanetwork Communications Co). I later joined Microsoft Thailand as product marketing manager for desktop OS and applications. At Microsoft, I had been working with Windows 95, Windows 98 and MS Office 2000.
I then moved to the US to work with Microsoft Corporation in various roles for eight years, then back to Microsoft Thailand as managing director. Back then I doubled the size of the business within two years to US$168 million. In total I spent over two decades with Microsoft.
Why did you decide to come back to Thailand?
This was a big decision and a turning point. I'm familiar with the US because I studied for the master's degree and worked overseas, in particular living in Seattle, where the traffic is light. I did enjoy my work there. But this is my calling. My parents are getting old, so it's time to take care of both of them.
From now on, the rest is profit. I mean, we spend quality time together back home, having dinner and travelling, and I continue to enjoy my hobbies of horseback riding and playing tennis.
What is the ultimate goal in your professional career?
As a Thai citizen in my new role with IBM, this will enable me to give back to the country. IBM has a lot of innovation, in particular in artificial intelligence (AI). IBM's Watson can make a huge revolution in a broad range of sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, services, banks and more.
IBM globally has been working for 60 years on Watson, which has been deployed in 80 countries in 20 industries and has 16,000 customers, including in Thailand. AI has just become more widely known in the past 3-5 years, so IBM has knowledge and expertise to customise and serve each specific industry's needs.
Personally, my dad had cancer and he could overcome the disease thanks to the doctors who adopted AI for precision medication. The technology helps analyse those massive unstructured data, so the doctors can make the best decision.
IBM is positioned as a digital transformation partner for businesses by bringing disruptive technologies like AI and blockchain to help businesses at all levels so they can stay competitive in the digital disruption era.
Innovation and technology are playing a key role to enable business organisations to keep growing in a sustainable way.
We are also in discussion with academics and government to train new skilled workforces to be data scientists and data engineers by retraining vocational college students.
How do you manage the changing roles in a different culture's work environment?
I have adapted various roles to my leadership style, with an emphasis on authenticity, integrity both in business and personally, transparency and fairness for a win-win that keeps friendships in business with partners and customers.
For employees, I always work with them as a team, be empathetic and encourage a happy staff to provide trusted services to customers.
Since I joined IBM, I have been talking with staff in various roles, listening to their feedback and requests.
Working with a diverse staff, openness is important. I open the teams up to debate and discussion, argue for ideas and bring out the strength of people in the organisation.
As a female executive, have you ever experienced gender discrimination? How did you deal with it?
I experienced a business meeting with male executives of Microsoft who misunderstood and thought I was a secretary. They ordered some coffee from me.
I was not angry. I took all the coffee orders and served them. After they realised that I was the meeting chairperson, I told them that was the most expensive coffee they've ever paid for, as this was my turn to request what I want from them.
In my career, I have been promoted and mentored female leaders. I was a member of the Women's Senior Leadership Program at the Kellogg School of Management, a panellist at the Global Women's Summit in Australia and also at Janes of Digital in Seattle.
I don't take life for granted. I have always tried my best in what I do and keep learning for success. Always keep in mind that the success of the organisation truly requires teamwork by members, an efficient process and good technologies.
