Marcelo Tarkieltaub is Regional Director, Southeast Asia at Rockwell Automation. Based in Singapore, Tarkieltaub is responsible for sales and business operations across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan and Vietnam.

Prior to Southeast Asia, Marcelo was Regional Director, Southern Cone, a portfolio within the Latin America region covering the markets of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. He has over 20 years of experience at Rockwell Automation and possesses deep knowledge of driving high performance teamwork in multicultural environments.

Marcelo holds an MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas and Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering from Universidade de São Paulo.

Marcelo is Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese.

Punit Agarwal is the Country Head (Singapore) at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). A seasoned business leader with almost three decades of experience across diverse geographical markets, Punit’s possesses unique global perspectives and expertise in driving digital transformation across different dimensions of business.

Punit is equipped with a wealth of experiences in running Delivery and Sales organization across geographies, having played various leadership roles during his stint in North America, Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore. He has also successfully set up high performance teams to deliver complex programs spanning multiple countries for business excellence.

Punit had been instrumental in setting up various TCS Offshore Delivery Centers for global customers across geographies spanning India, Philippines, Malaysia, and China for Technology Services and Business Operations. He had also successfully supported customers with vendors consolidation, to drive cost optimization and operational resilience. Punit leverages his strength in client and stakeholder management for effective customer relationship management and business growth.

As the Country Head of TCS Singapore, Punit is responsible for driving the TCS business towards greater success. His role includes pioneering initiatives that will elevate Singapore’s digital technology space through innovative strategies, partnerships, and education, while narrowing the skills gap for the local community, fostering growth and development.

Drawing upon two decades of experience spearheading digital strategy projects at TCS Singapore, Punit is extensively connected with the local business, academic and government ecosystem. As the former TCS APAC Head of Banking and Financial Services (BFSI), his focus lies in partnering clients to craft and execute their digital transformation agenda, while collaborating with technology providers, FinTech, RegTech and other pivotal players within the ecosystem.

Punit graduated with a Master of Science (Finance) from Baruch College, USA, where he was a recipient of Beta Gamma Sigma, the highest recognition in a business program accredited by AACSB International.

In his role as Senior General Manager overseeing Special Projects, Tuan Haji Natazha Harris reports directly to President and Chief Executive effective 1 January 2024. He brings fresh expertise, accompanied by over two decades of industry knowledge. Tuan Haji Natazha holds a Masters of Science in Land Administration & Development from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and a Bachelor of Computer Science from Universiti Putra Malaysia, accompanying his qualifications.

Before becoming an integral part of JCorp, Tuan Haji Natazha held the position of Director for Badan Kawalselia Air Johor (BAKAJ). Prior to that role, he was Yang Dipertua at Majlis Perbandaran Kulai. His years of experience and specialized education makes him an asset, contributing to the continued success and innovation within JCorp.

Frederick Kliem is the Southeast Asia Director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network (EICN) based in Singapore. Frederick works closely with network members to help inform their business strategies through political, economic and operational insights and to connect them with their senior leadership peers.

Frederick is a seasoned consultant and well-published thought-leader in politics, the economy and sustainability of Asia. He has more than 20 years of experience working on and in South- and Southeast Asia, and he has worked closely with business, political and civil society stakeholders to help inform their strategies and build networks.

Before joining The Economist Group, Frederick was the Director Climate Change and Energy Security for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation – a development organisation of the German government, dedicated to the promotion of a social market economy - in Singapore and Hong Kong. Prior to that, Frederick lectured and taught post-graduate students (MA and PhD) at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

Frederick holds a PhD in International Relations and Multilateralism in Asia and is passionate about politics and economics as well as climate and sustainability issues. On these and more, he is a well-published published author, with several books, peer-reviewed-journal articles and numerous media appearances and op-eds to his name.

Expertise:
South- and Southeast Asia, ASEAN, and Europe

Specialist subjects:
Geopolitics, Development, Energy Security and Transition, Politics and Economics ASEAN and the EU,

Languages:
English, German, and ever-improving Malay