Singtel rings the changes at senior leadership level amid a digital refocus

Singtel on Friday (Apr 10) announced a series of changes to its senior leadership team, as well as what it called a "sharpening" of its digital business strategy.

The leadership changes are effective immediately, the telco announced.

Mr Jonathan Auerbach, currently CEO Group Digital Life, relinquishes his executive role but remains associated with the Group as Chairman of premium video wing HOOQ and Director of digital marketing unit Amobee.

Mr Auerbach joined Singtel in September last year from McKinsey & Company, where he led the Telecommunications, Media and Technology Practice in Asia.

"Jonathan has played a key role in sharpening the Group’s digital strategy and will continue to be a strong advocate for Singtel. He plans to move back to the United States," said Ms Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group CEO.

Filling the position of CEO Group Digital Life position is Mr Samba Natarajan, currently the Managing Director of Digital Enterprise, who will be responsible for the Group’s digital portfolio, including Amobee, HOOQ, analytics wing DataSpark and corporate venture capital fund Innov8.

In other changes, Ms Lim Cheng Cheng, currently the Deputy Group CFO, will be appointed Group CFO, while current Group CFO Jeann Low, will take on the role of Group Chief Corporate Officer, overseeing corporate functions including strategy, mergers and acquisitions, corporate communications, legal, regulatory and procurement.

Ms Lim, Ms Low and Mr Natarajan will report to the Group CEO.

DIGITAL REORGANISATION

Following a review, Singtel's Digital Life group, which was set up in 2012 will focus on three key businesses: Digital marketing (Amobee), regional premium video (HOOQ) and advanced analytics and intelligence capabilities (DataSpark), in addition to strengthening its role as Singtel’s digital innovation engine through Innov8, the telco announced on Friday.

Each of these businesses will be guided by a Board which includes independent directors with relevant industry and domain expertise, according to the news release.

Digital lifestyle services comprising AMPed, Dash, HungryGoWhere and Insing.com, and NewsLoop will be managed within the Singapore Consumer business. Certain digital initiatives that are not scalable have been discontinued, Singtel said.

Said Group CEO Chua Sock Koong: “In the last three years, we have experimented to explore opportunities where our unique telco assets can be put to best use in this digital era. We have identified digital marketing, regional premium OTT video and advanced analytics as key growth areas. We will double our efforts to build Amobee, HOOQ and DataSpark to become significant players.”