Insights on the Tech Industry: Adapting to Trends in Sustainability, Startups, Cyber Security and Hiring Strategies

Matteo Perroni brings over a decade of experience from his tenure at Michael Page International, where he has established himself as a seasoned Director with a focus on the Technology sector. His expertise spans across various countries, and he is currently dedicated to conducting senior executive searches within the industry.

In conversation with Prisila, correspondent, Asia Business Outlook Magazine, Matteo expressed his perspective on the significance of startups in fostering innovation within the technology sector and discussed the ways in which established companies are engaging in collaboration or acquisition of startups to maintain competitiveness.

How is the tech market responding to the growing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly products, and what innovations are emerging in this space?

The tech market is actively responding to the surging demand for sustainable and eco-friendly products, aligning with global sustainability goals.

Many economies in the Region focus on environmentally-friendly sectors such as bioenergy, biochemicals, and biopharmaceuticals, with one area in particular that I especially see growing in importance: sustainable farming.

Thailand is a great example of this, with its “Thailand 4.0 initiative” aimed at elevating the country to a high-income nation through innovation and environmental consciousness. This initiative, among other things, emphasizes bioeconomy as a key industry and is in line with the goals set by the United Nations in terms of Sustainable Development.

Speaking from personal experience as well, I recently had the opportunity to meet one of the largest companies that specialize in this area, a business who has made their mission to provide Digital solutions for sustainable farming. It was a very insightful conversation that clearly showed that this is an increasingly important area of the Tech market, with a lot of resources and efforts dedicated to growing the usage of technology beyond what we would consider to be the typical use cases.

What role do startups play in driving innovation in the tech market, and how are established companies collaborating with or acquiring startups to stay competitive?

Collaborations between corporations and startups are on the rise globally. Startups seek corporate resources, markets, and support, while corporations strive for faster innovation. However, the success rate of these partnerships is varied, with only 28% of startups expressing satisfaction, according to Industry reports. Challenges include a lack of internal commitment, strategic clarity, slow processes, and difficulty in tracking impact.

In a more local context, Thailand's startup ecosystem has shown positive momentum, rising to 52nd globally in StartupBlink's 2023 Index. This improvement signals an environment that promotes innovation, and we can clearly see this trend by looking at the Tech start-up companies that we work with at Michael Page, where a very large portion of these companies are indeed backed by large corporate or investment firms.

How is data privacy concerns shaping the development and adoption of new technologies, and what steps should companies take to address these concerns?

Data privacy concerns are increasingly shaping the development and adoption of new technologies worldwide. The digital economy's growth, fueled by technologies like cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and 5G, presents both opportunities and challenges in cybersecurity.

In Thailand, the National Cyber Security Agency reported a significant rise in cybersecurity threats, with increased cases of data breaches, particularly in educational and public sectors. Global and local IT infrastructure providers are actively collaborating with key stakeholders to enhance Thailand's cybersecurity and, although Thailand is currently the Country with the lowest disruptive cyberattacks in ASEAN, the topic remains a hot one for businesses grappling with complex threats.

It is evident that companies are factoring this in when it comes to their hiring activities as well. The number of searches for Cyber-Security professionals that we perform for hiring companies is consistently growing, with a few of them building entire new teams dedicated to this function.

"The talent market is inherently very dynamic where priorities shift rapidly, particularly in the past few years since the pandemic"

How do you conduct market research to understand the talent landscape for specific roles within the organization?

To understand the talent landscape and provide our Clients with relevant data, we use a proprietary tool which consolidates our data and networks called Page Insights. This business intelligence platform collects both local and global data in real-time.

It’s a fundamental tool that allows us to provide invaluable information to our Clients, such as the number of candidates available in the market, the average time required to make a successful hire and the average number of interviews leading to a placement. It’s also a great tool to start conversations around topics such as gender equality, with detailed analysis on salary gaps and much more.

We are able to have conversations based on concrete data with hiring managers and it allows us to offer strategic support to companies throughout the hiring journey, facilitating well-informed decision-making and ensuring a seamless and effective recruitment process.

How do we adapt your hiring strategies to accommodate changes in the economic or business environment?

It is absolutely crucial for the success of every business to adapt not only hiring strategies, but also employee retention strategies.

The talent market is inherently very dynamic where priorities shift rapidly, particularly in the past few years since the pandemic. Our lives have significantly changed since then, just as we changed our ways of working and what we look for from our jobs.

Recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all solution is the first important step, and we advocate for collaboration with trusted partners and specialized professionals who can provide support in navigating these challenges.

At Michael Page, we address this in many ways, including 1-1 consultations, publishing industry reports, providing employment data analysis and of course, our talent introduction services.

In conclusion, awareness of the importance of this topic and taking proactive action under the guidance of specialized professionals is crucial, and my recommendation is to seek collaboration and information exchange as a way to staying ahead of the curve in these dynamic times.