Asia's Most Influential: Airasia Visionary Aireen Omar Interview

President of (Ventures) Capital A (formerly AirAsia Group Berhad) and Asia's Most Influential 2022 honouree Aireen Omar on her biggest milestone this year, life lessons, and making a very mean teh tarik

Meet Aireen Omar, one of Malaysia's leading ladies in tech who wears many hats. Not only is she the president of (Ventures) Capital A, but she's also the CEO of airasia academy and a non-executive director of Tune Protect Group Berhad. Her many tasks include Capital A's ventures builder pillar strategy, promoting innovation throughout the group, and encouraging collaboration across AirAsia's businesses and markets.

The London School of Economics and Political Science graduate is no stranger to receiving recognition for her work. Her accolades include the Outstanding CEO Achievement Award by Malaysian Women of Excellence, Corporate Treasurer’s 25 Most Influential Women in Treasury, Masterclass Woman CEO of the Year by Selangor Excellence Business Awards, Eminent Leaders in Asia at the Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Awards (ACES), and APAC CEO of the Year 2017 by Aviation 100 Awards.

Not forgetting, under her leadership, AirAsia was awarded Digital Transformer of the Year in Malaysia at the IDC Digital Transformation Awards (DXa) 2019.

This year, in acknowledgement of her illustrious career and achievements, she has been inducted into the 2022 Asia's Most Influential list, which brings together the region’s most innovative changemakers, industry titans and powerful individuals who are shaping the region through positive impact.

Tatler sits down with the honouree for a candid chat.

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What are your biggest milestones this year?

Getting the edutech business up and running, and making it relevant to the needs and wants of the economy and the region. Building up IKHLAS, the Muslim portal, to help facilitate and fulfil the needs and wants of Muslims at every phase of their lives. Also, supporting Tune Protect in becoming an Insurtech business.

For me, it’s about how I can build a business so that it meets the needs and wants of the economy and society as a whole. It’s always the underserved that we forget, so how do we help them and serve them properly?

For the insurance business that we’ve built in Tune Protect Group, how do we turn that around and make it accessible to and affordable for all, to digitalise it and turn it into an Insurtech business?

What is Insurtech?

Right now, insurance is still being sold through policies which are manual, and many people don’t understand policies. It’s very hard. It takes a PhD to probably analyse the whole thing. Through Insurtech, we make it easy for people. They can insure themselves through an app or a website and it’s cheap, simple, fast, and easy to claim. Usually, when it comes to insurance claims, people find it tedious to get their claims, so Tune Protect Group is looking to change that.

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What do you wish to achieve before 2023?

People tend to forget that talent is key in whatever they do. They need to ensure that they have a strong talent pipeline to achieve what they want. What I’ve noticed is that there is a huge gap between what we learn formally in school and what the industry needs.

If there’s a way for me to contribute to bridging that gap and disrupting education and ensuring that we have the right kind of talent to be successful in the digital economy so that everybody can find the right jobs and build a career around it, that would be the ultimate success for me. It is when education is accessible, affordable, and relevant to all, not just a handful of the population.

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What are some of the biggest life lessons that your work as well as the people you’ve met along the way have taught you?

That it’s really important to listen because people like to talk more than they listen. Sometimes, it can be very easy to solve a problem if you listen carefully and provide the kind of solution that helps with the pain points that they’re facing.

In order to make your whole journey successful, whether it’s a digital transformation or your personal life, it’s important to be sensitive to your surroundings to understand the gaps, needs, wants, and pain points, and to be able to use the resources around you to connect the dots.

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What are some projects in the pipeline that you can share?

Edutech is going to lead the way in terms of disrupting education and building the right kind of relevant skill sets. Then there is the Muslim portal that I think will be a game-changer because we’re looking at how to provide Muslim-friendly travel not just in Malaysia but the whole region as well.

What would surprise people the most about you?

That I make a mean teh tarik! Every time my family members visit, they will ask for my teh tarik.

Tatler Asia’s Most Influential is the definitive list of people shaping our world today. Asia’s Most Influential brings together the region’s most innovative changemakers, industry titans, and thought leaders who are driving positive impact in Asia and beyond. View the full list here.

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Aireen Omar Front & Female AirAsia AirAsia Academy Edutech Insurtech Asia's Most Influential AMI 2022

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Asia’s Most Influential: Getting Candid With Aireen Omar, Capital A's High-Flying Visionary