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CIO named five finalists for the 2026 ASEAN Next CIO Award: Harpreet Singh, Patrick Tay Kwang Hwee, Rahul Jain, Varuna De Wass Gunawardena, and Yee Sai Kit Sam. CIO says the names are listed alphabetically. The winners are scheduled to be announced on 5 November 2026 at the CIO100 & CSO30 ASEAN Awards Gala Night at Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
Who are the 2026 ASEAN Next CIO finalists?
The profiles below reflect descriptions in CIO’s 1 October 2026 announcement. They are not an independently audited comparison or assessment of the finalists.
Harpreet Singh — KPMG Singapore
CIO identifies Singh as Head of Data Office. Its profile says he leads the KPMG Data Council, bringing business and technology leaders together on data management, governance, and AI priorities. His remit includes data strategy, AI, governance, and technology transformation.
Patrick Tay Kwang Hwee — BNP Paribas
CIO describes Tay’s progression from leading technology programmes to enterprise-wide digital transformation. The profile highlights a Business Process Re-engineering programme involving workflow redesign, intelligent automation, streamlined approvals, and stronger governance. It also cites his work in cloud modernization, AI innovation, infrastructure, cybersecurity, risk, and compliance.
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Rahul Jain — Gusto
CIO identifies Jain as Head of Enterprise AIT and says he built a new enterprise AI function and helped shape the company’s enterprise AI strategy. The profile describes an AI Agent programme intended to automate finance workflows while establishing security and control requirements for agents working with sensitive financial systems.
Varuna De Wass Gunawardena — PT Agrinesia Raya
CIO identifies Gunawardena as Head of IT and says he repositioned IT toward business transformation. The profile reports four production AI and automation solutions. One is PULSE, an internal platform supporting product development from concept and formulation through regulatory registration and launch readiness. The other named projects are AI-assisted CV screening, contract review, and DigiProc procurement automation.
Rank #2
Yee Sai Kit Sam
CIO’s announcement does not name an employer for Yee. It reports 25 years of experience across technology, transformation, risk, and regulatory leadership. The profile traces his early work to technology engineering involving treasury systems, financial data models, and cross-border counterparty risk monitoring, and describes a broader remit spanning enterprise digital transformation, change and project management, technology risk, and regulatory transformation.
What the finalist profiles show about the award
CIO describes the Next CIO Award as recognizing rising technology leaders on a path toward senior technology leadership. Its stated emphasis includes vision, execution capability, organizational influence, and initiatives that deliver measurable organizational benefit. The broader CIO100 ASEAN programme celebrates senior technology and digital executives driving innovation and change, building strong cultures, and influencing leadership teams. CIO says the inaugural Next CIO Award was presented in 2023.
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The five profiles cover a range of responsibilities rather than one common role or project type:
- Data and AI governance: Singh’s profile centers on data strategy, governance, and alignment between business and technology leaders.
- Enterprise transformation: Tay’s profile features business-process redesign alongside cloud, infrastructure, security, and compliance work.
- AI automation and controls: Jain’s profile pairs finance-workflow automation with security and control requirements for AI agents.
- Production AI and automation: Gunawardena’s profile names four deployed solutions, including product-development and procurement initiatives.
- Technology risk and regulatory transformation: Yee’s profile describes experience extending from engineering work to broader transformation and risk responsibilities.
These are themes reported in CIO’s profiles, not a shared scorecard. The announcement does not provide a consistent set of independently verified outcome measures for comparing the finalists.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When and where will the winners be announced?
CIO schedules the announcement for 5 November 2026 at the CIO100 & CSO30 ASEAN Awards Gala Night at Raffles Hotel, Singapore. CIO describes the gala as an exclusive, by-invitation event for finalists, winners, and selected senior technology leaders.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →A separate event, The Transformation Reset: Redefining the Future Enterprise, is scheduled earlier that day. CIO says the conference is open to senior IT leaders and directs readers to event information for registration. Foundry’s event page describes the 2026 event as combining the CIO100 awards and conference in ASEAN & Hong Kong. As the date is upcoming, consult the event information for any schedule or registration updates.
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How large is the CIO100 ASEAN awards programme?
In its 1 June 2026 nomination announcement, CIO reported 245 entries for the 2025 programme and described the 2026 ASEAN & Hong Kong awards programme as its eighth consecutive run. CIO reported the entry count as a programme statistic; the underlying dataset is not included in that announcement.
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