From sailing the seas to helming Customer Experience at ADVANCE.AI – hear about Elvin Teo's journey towards AI and deep learning!

February is often known as the month of love, and it's why we followed Elvin Teo, PMP , our Head of Customer Experience, on his journey as he navigated the seas during his Navy days and found ADVANCE.AI through his passion for AI and his belief in people engagement. Plus, learn about his kaizen philosophy and how that helps guide the team via a framework for continuous improvement.

So what are you waiting for? Hop onboard and discover Elvin's story now!

1. Can you tell us about yourself? And perhaps something that not everyone knows about you?

Hi everyone, I'm Elvin and I lead the Customer Experience team at ADVANCE.AI. Customer Experience here comprises 3 pillars: Project Management, Technical Support and Customer Success. So I work with 3 amazing teams, with members across the world, to ensure all our customers are well taken care of in terms of solution implementation, service and support, and of course, customer satisfaction.

I'm a project manager by training, so I see myself as a builder – someone who will jump into the deep-end of the pool to assess the situation, try to build processes and systems, and to optimise as we go along. I always try to see how I can add value to the people around me.

Something not everyone knows about me is that I've actually served in the Singapore Navy, and that experience has been great training for start-up environments where your ability to remain calm and agile in constantly evolving situations is often tested.

2. Wow, tell us more. Why the navy – and how did it lead you to tech and AI?

Joining the Navy had been my childhood dream. I think many of us conjure up that image of comandeering a ship, sailing into the great seas. Well, I can share that the reality isn't too far off. I started off in the Navy in more of a junior operational role and took up more of an operational and project management role towards the later part of my years there. I think that's when the faculties of my being a project manager were trained. I enlisted when I was 18 and left the force when I was 29. Then I joined PSA Marine (a subsidiary of Port of Singapore Authority), further flexing my operational and project management prowesses, so to speak, before I stepped out of my comfort zone and stepped into the start-up world and I haven't looked back since. My experience with various organisations after the Navy further honed my hard and soft skills. You could say one door closes, another opens. I'd say I was ready for the next chapter of my life, delving into tech, AI and deep learning – helping organisations and people through technology.

3. How has your ADVANCE.AI journey been?

It's been an interesting and meaningful journey for me because, firstly, it's given me a lot of regional exposure. ADVANCE.AI is plugged in to some of the biggest banks and fast-growing fintechs in Southeast Asia. So right at the get-go, I was working closely with these brands and that gave me really good insights on our current product offering and how our product can impact the lives of people.

A big part of Customer Experience is about customer satisfaction, about what happens after the contract is signed and the solution is implemented. So it's great to be able to understand how customers and their customers feel about our product, what is good, what can we improve on. I think the fact that we are able to help drive impact for businesses and for financial inclusion is what adds purpose for me.

4. What made you join ADVANCE.AI?

Truth be told, I was always attracted to AI and machine learning. Before ADVANCE.AI, I was in an AI start-up. I believe that AI can help improve our lives, and that it's the key to true automation. From when I was preparing for my interview with ADVANCE.AI, reading up on what the company does and the products it offers, as well as after I officially join, I'm continually inspired by what AI can do. Especially when I see how brands have benefitted from our product, Nanovest, one of Indonesia's most popular investment platforms, for example, has been able to onboard customers in just 60 seconds by using ADVANCE.AI. Traditionally, the onboarding process would have taken a day and would have involved many types of manual verification. Of course, I'm oversimplifying things here, it's probably best for you to check in with our Solutions Consulting team. But the takeaway here is: AI technology can disrupt and improve the lives of many. And that is one reason I joined ADVANCE.AI.

The second reason: people. My line manager is TS Lim, our Chief Commercial Officer. We chatted a few times before I joined, so I could get to know him and get to know more about the company. I was and still am very inspired by his vision to scale and bring our solution to even more users – and to be a force to be reckoned with. I'm also learning from his leadership and his experience. That's something a lot of us managers can look up to, and learn from.

Thirdly, regional exposure. For a company headquartered in Singapore, we aren't restricted geographically. As I said before, it's amazing how we can work closely with the banks and fintechs across the region. It's not just learning about their painpoints and how our product can help improve their business. Rather, it's about building partnerships that can help move the entire region forward in terms of financial inclusion and digital disruption.

5. February is about love and passion, what are you passionate about?

I've always been passionate about people and people engagement. And I think it's because of my experience in the Navy as well as the non-profit group that I currently work with. Why people? Because people drive operations, people drive systems – and ultimately, people drive organisations. So to me, it's not just about how we can improve processes and systems, but how can we help our teams become better? When people are more engaged, they become more invested in the work they do too. Even better, they can grow in the organisation.

It's true that we can identify problems and painpoints, and start to solve them. But when you can identify the painpoints and empower the team to solve the problems, you don't just save time – but you've built a longer term strategy that also gives people greater confidence. As with ADVANCE.AI's customer-centric philosophy, that's how I focus on our internal customers, team members, and I think that's how we can move forward and scale as a team.

I also believe in the power of conversations. The best way to engage someone is by talking to them, face to face, if possible. Especially in the digital age, personal touch always has its value. It's why we meet our customers, understand what their challenges and opportunities are, and how we can help. When it comes to difficult conversations as well, whether it's on possible downtime or what customers can expect to happen when things aren't going smoothly, it's important that customers know that we are within reach and they can trust us to resolve any issue.

6. Sounds great to be part of the Customer Experience team! Did you have a vision for the team?

To me, it's about upscaling the team – helping them reach a world-class standard. That's not to say they are not world-class; it's about constant improvement, and being able to cater to ever-evolving customer expectations. The Customer Experience team is across a few countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and it's key for us to deliver the same consistent standard no matter where customers are reaching out to us from.

To do this, we have a framework and certain SOPs to guide us. I believe in the kaizen philosophy, which my team is very familiar with, where we can continuously improve so collectively, we can upscale and become a powerful engine for improvement. I credit this learning to a leader at my previous company. He always told the team that we should improve a bit every day, because every 1% improvement that we make every day will have a compound effect. So it's not about expecting someone to suddenly lead big enterprise projects, but about continuous improvement and refinement. All of which takes time, whether it's professional certification, gaining knowledge, walking the talk, leading by example, etc. This framework helps all of us gain small wins and take steps towards bigger, more complex projects. In the process, we also gain more confidence and experience. That, I think, is the vision I have for my team. I'm glad to see how the team has grown quarter after quarter, not just fulfiling their OKRs but also driving initiatives, and having the confidence to lead bigger projects.

7. Share with us a funny/memorable moment since you joined ADVANCE.AI.

That'd probably have to be my first meal(s) with my team. Let me explain. As you know, the Customer Experience team is made up of Project Management, Technical Support and Customer Success – and everyone is based all over the region. So on my third day at work, I flew to Jakarta to meet some of the team to get to know them. Naturally, it'd be easier to bond over a meal, so we had an introduction lunch and dinner. I had a really great time.

Then, over the next two days, I realised each workstream had also arranged team dinners, and as they say, great minds think alike, both dinners are buffet dinners. And after three days of welcome meals, I told the team, "Bonding with everyone is great, but there is only so much hospitality this body can take." We all had a good laugh over it. But on a serious note, it's incredible how warm and welcoming the team is.

8. What makes ADVANCE.AI amazing?

I'll say it's our melting pot of cultures. The team is everywhere around the world, so you can get the best people in one room very quickly, whether it's a virtual room or meeting in-person. When ideas, innovation, experience and best practices come together, I think that's amazing. We are also connected by our single minded proposition of helping our customers succeed in what they do as we all move towards financial inclusion. Just pop into any of our Monday weekly meetings, and you can hear how teams from different countries share their two cents' whether it's an idea to solve a customer painpoint or an initiative that someone is driving. It's just great that we can bring all of these together at ADVANCE.AI.

Want to join our global team? Check out our current open roles here or send your CV to [email protected]