I've been in Singapore for over 10 years now, but some experiences from my early career have been very valuable. I've always taken risks in trying new things, and coming to Asia with Goldman was a big step. But I also spent some time in Cambodia with the UN after leaving Goldman the first time, and managing teams in what was effectively a warzone brought lessons in running teams in difficult and challenging environments.
Another pivotal experience was being an entrepreneur within an organization like I was at Goldman, where I was able to start the Indian business from scratch over a period of five years, and had to endure challenges like the financial crisis and Mumbai terror attacks.
What areas of the digital assets and blockchain space excites you the most?
Digital assets and blockchain-based financial instruments are absolutely key to efficient markets and financial inclusion, especially in this region. The way Ripple has approached this, as a company with deep technology experience with a use case in building RippleNet, and making these markets and payment systems more efficient over time really excites me.
When I look at that, I couldn't be in a better place to watch this evolve, and I couldn't be in a better jurisdiction – Singapore – as a place to build this business and be in this ecosystem. Singapore feels like a place that has just grabbed this mantle of financial innovation and is just running with it.
What opportunities does Ripple see in the region?
In Southeast Asia, the company has grown more than 10x year-on-year in 2020, despite the challenges of Covid. Payments have continued to flow and we've used this opportunity to deepen our relationships with our partners in the region, but also across the network globally.
I think we've made the most of 2020 from a momentum standpoint, and many of these relationships are now cranking up in 2021, as we continue to grow the team. There's a great dynamism in this market, and we're taking advantage of the talent here to add to our team in order to add to the network and grow these customer and partner relationships.
I think what you're seeing here is the continued build-out of the network, and then pushing it into what we're doing best in the technology front. There's a little bit of everything here in APAC, which is a microcosm of what the company is doing globally – but the movement here is great.
What are your focus areas for the company in the near term?
