Like many graduates who embark on a career to match the degree they earned, Pipit Aneaknithi started out as a pharmacist until his passion to make a difference turned him into a banker.
The 52-year-old Mr Pipit, now a co-president of Kasikornbank (KBank), began working as a pharmacist at a state hospital upcountry after his graduation from Chiang Mai University.
He soon found he was a poor fit for the state-run facility, being more used to a family business environment, so he decided to join the private sector.
Drug salesman was his second job. Although working for American or European pharmaceutical companies was more popular, Mr Pipat chose a Japanese firm.
"I wanted to make a difference rather than follow in others' footsteps," he says. "While I was a university student, I was compelled to enrol in a Latin language course, but I picked a German language course to differentiate myself from others."
He earned an A grade in the German course and a C in Latin.
"I realised that motivation is very important for anyone," he says. "It will inspire him or her to make or create something with every effort."
At that time, the pharmaceutical industry featured intense competition and high-paying jobs. But another turning point came when Mr Pipit considered studying abroad and a friend recommended he apply for a KBank scholarship.
Without an educational background in business, finance or accounting, he invented his own equations and used logic in a written examination for the scholarship. After passing the written exam, he was unconcerned about the interview because he was confident in his sales skills, Mr Pipit says with a laugh.
GERMAN STOPOVER
Scholarship in hand, he chose to pursue a Master of Business Administration in Germany, putting his language studies to good use. While there, he worked as an IT adviser to a local firm and imported chemical materials for a company in the paint industry. The well-paid jobs made him hesitant to return to Thailand.
Mr Pipit ultimately decided to come home and start a financial career at KBank, though at first he didn't feel like himself.
"I did my best for all assignments," he says. "I thought that work is work. I didn't have a feeling, either positive or negative, for any task. I only focused on doing my best, and then I felt full of energy."
Mr Pipit joined KBank, formerly Thai Farmers Bank, in April 1997. He got his feet wet working as a credit officer in the manufacturing and industry credit department, where he took responsibility for financing power plant projects.
When the financial crisis erupted shortly thereafter, Mr Pipit was rotated through several jobs, his duties changing every 3-4 months. He was involved in a team to set up a new business unit, the multi-corporate banking department, and was promoted to vice-president in 2001.
After that he took charge of KBank's small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business. Despite some resistance to the new assignment, he emerged as a pioneer in grooming SMEs, an area in which KBank has led.
In 2008 he was tasked with turning around the retail banking segment amid intense competition.
At that time, KBank was the country's largest bank by retail business and it needed a lot of resources and energy to deliver new strategies to retain the crown.
CHINA OPPORTUNITY
Another challenge came when KBank chairman emeritus Banthoon Lamsam approached Mr Pipit to oversee the bank's business in China. With stellar growth for decades, the Middle Kingdom has welcomed investors and business operators from all corners of the globe as they look to secure a foothold in the world's biggest market.
Mr Pipit was open to the assignment on three grounds: "I'm an employee, the boss saw something in me, and it is my nature that I love to try new things."
Mr Banthoon wanted an answer within 24 hours. "I then rushed to a book shop, sitting on the floor to read all books about China available on the shelves," Mr Pipit says. "I bought them all, and those books are now on the working room's shelves."
Advice received from Pipat Paniangvait, chief executive of Thai President Foods Plc, was not only an important factor in Mr Pipit's decision to accept the offer, but also a good primer for doing business in China.
Mr Pipit baulked at the idea of studying Mandarin in the mainland for eight months before starting work, opting to learn the language in Thailand instead.
His Chinese language teacher is another key figure in improving Mr Pipit's understanding of the mainland in all its aspects: political, social, economic. In turn, he shares with his teacher his thoughts about the banking industry, financial markets and digital disruption.
"We need to share all information and learn together to narrow the gap between me and my teacher," Mr Pipit says. "Now he [the teacher] also knows about artificial intelligence and blockchain technology."
Although humbled that he is not a Mandarin expert yet, Mr Pipit can join Chinese seminars without a translator and has used both Chinese and English in communicating with China's regulators.
ONWARD AND UPWARD
Mr Pipit was promoted to executive vice-president and head of the China business division in 2011. He rose further through the ranks to head KBank's overseas business and was named a co-president in 2017 after the bank won a local business licence from the Chinese authorities.
"I have no clear picture for myself in the next three to five years or after retirement," Mr Pipit says.
A vague goal is to become a university lecturer. But he has doubts as to whether he can handle the new generation of students, citing their different social values and thinking process.
On the other hand, a challenge to be overcome is the sort of opportunity that Mr Pipit has sought his whole working life.
In the digital era, he believes that leaders should be inspirational or purpose-driven, rather than situational, in order to sustain organisations in the long run.
Human capital is an important resource, and turning employees from liabilities into valued assets is crucial. So is instilling the idea of working as a team.
"If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together -- that is the philosophy for running business amid the digital transition right now," Mr Pipit says.
BIO DATA
Pipit Aneaknithi
Age: 52
EDUCATION
- Bachelor's degree in pharmacy, Chiang Mai University
- MBA, FH Pforzheim
- MBA, University of Brighton
CAREER
- 2017-president: Co-president, Kasikornbank
- 2013-16: Senior executive vice-president, head of world business division, Kasikornbank
- 2013-15: Executive vice-president, head of world business division, Kasikornbank
- 2011-13: Executive vice-president, head of China business division, Kasikornbank
- 2010: Executive vice-president, corporate strategy management division, Kasikornbank
- 2008-09: First senior vice-president, retail business division, Kasikornbank
- 2005-07: Senior vice-president, consumer segment management department, Kasikornbank
- 2003-05: First vice-president, retail commercial credit and marketing department, Kasikornbank
- 2003: First vice-president, multi-corporate banking department, Kasikornbank
- 2001-03: Vice-president, multi-corporate banking department, Kasikornbank
- 2001: Assistant vice-president, corporate client relationship department, Kasikornbank
- 1999-2000: Manager, corporate client relationship department, Kasikornbank
- 1997-99: Credit o cer, manufacturing and industry credit department, Kasikornbank
- 1992-94: Medical representative, Eisai Thailand Marketing Co Ltd
- 1990-92: Head of the pharmacy department, Chumpuang Hospital