Every career has a moment where a single yes opens the door to something more. ‘Yes Moments’ is a blog series that celebrates the choices that sparked opportunity and shaped the journeys of our people.

Malie’s journey is innovation in motion. As a driving force behind our breakthrough mobile banking app, he challenged convention and redefined everyday convenience for millions. Over 15 transformative years, from pioneering mobile banking to championing homegrown tech talent, his career has helped shape the future of banking.

Discover how bold moves and relentless curiosity continue to power his impact today as Head of Digital Channels in OCBC Singapore. 

Early Years in Semiconductor Industry

I studied Electrical Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and graduated in 2009. At the time, I hoped to join a financial institution because of the attractive compensation. I interviewed with Private Banking firms but after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, all hiring processes came to an abrupt halt.

Entry into Finance

Eventually, I discovered that OCBC accepted applicants with less than two years of work experience. I spoke to my parents about their views of OCBC and learned that they saw it as a very stable institution — known for strong customer care, absence from the mini bonds saga, and a loyal customer base.

Having watched my dad lose his job during the Asian Financial Crisis, stability was something he always emphasised. I remembered how difficult that period was for him and for our family, and that shaped the way I evaluated potential employers.

My OCBC interview felt warm and personable. The questions centred around my aspirations rather than technical details, and the environment felt welcoming — I could genuinely see myself growing there.

Although I received other offers, I knew I wanted to build a career in the finance industry. So I said yes to joining OCBC.

Early Days at OCBC

At OCBC, I joined the Fresh Talent programme and began my career as a systems analyst in the Internet Banking team under Group Operations and Technology (GO&T). My role involved working closely with vendors to integrate, enhance, and maintain the bank’s software systems.

Because these systems operated 24/7, we often encountered inefficiencies and operational bottlenecks. To improve the process, I consolidated and standardised vendor code deliveries and testing, which helped streamline and simplify the overall delivery and deployment of features.

As colleagues moved on over time, I stayed on even though I was still in the early stages of my career. I never saw this as a disadvantage — in fact, it was an opportunity to build deep domain expertise. Those years shaped who I am today: a problem solver and someone who delivers practical and effective solutions.

In 2014, my next yes opportunity came when I was accepted into the internal Management Associate programme, which was designed to deepen our skills through rotational assignments across departments. I spent time in Wealth Management and was a product manager for Unit Trust, and later in Digital Business, supporting various customer focused initiatives.

Building OCBC’s Mobile Banking App from Scratch

In 2015, I returned to GO&T. My supervisor gave me a new opportunity — my biggest ‘Yes’ moment yet. At the time, vendors were charging excessively for internet banking systems, so we made the bold decision to build our own mobile banking solution in house. It was daunting, given my background in Electrical Engineering and experience mainly in low level programming. Developing mobile apps required entirely different skill sets and languages, from C++ to native Apple and Android development, but it was a challenge I was eager to take on.

Armed with my Mac and a small team of four, we grew steadily. First to 12, then 18, and eventually 30 members by 2019. We built the first version of our main mobile banking app in just eight months, working tirelessly day and night. To accelerate our progress, we partnered with a design vendor, integrating their prototypes with our core banking systems.

The team also built Pay Anyone, OneWealth (no longer in use), and our multi award winning in house HR app, HR In Your Pocket (HIP). We delivered several industry firsts, such as the one touch biometric login feature.

Powering More Apps and Growing as a Leader

Later, I transitioned into an applications architect role, moving from hands on coding to designing how engineers should build next generation banking systems.

From 2020 to 2023, I served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), where I built the FRANK app entirely from scratch and defined the core technology stack. As we accelerated development, our engineering team grew from 30 to 50.

Later that year, my career came full circle when I returned to GO&T Group Engineering. In a fitting twist, I was interviewed once again by Chong Wah — now Group Engineering Head — the same leader who had first interviewed me back in 2009!

Today, our engineering organisation has grown to nearly 1,800 software engineers across the region, including 950 in Singapore and the rest across China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Together, we continue to strengthen the bank’s core systems, expand in house development capabilities, and build a broad and modern suite of software engineering competencies.

Embracing AI

Currently, I’m working on redesigning our dashboard for Gen Alpha kids aged nine to 15, incorporating customised avatars that interact with users to help them learn financial literacy.

The avatar project has been both challenging and exciting — especially because convincing stakeholders and regulators has not been easy. To manage risks, we are deliberately keeping the scope small for now, focusing only on Q&A and educational content. This helps us avoid AI hallucinations and reputational issues while we validate the concept.

We have also built in strict safeguards, including kill switches and tight controls. The project remains in the experimentation stage, where we learn, refine, and ensure the solution can meet the high standards required for young users.

There is a common belief that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking over jobs, but my own experience suggests otherwise. Over one weekend, I experimented with AI to write code for an app. AI is excellent at handling routine and repetitive tasks — like setting up the initial framework and scaffolding — but it struggles with complex real world requirements. It’s an enthusiastic helper but absolutely needs human oversight. Therefore, AI is a powerful tool, not a replacement.

In software engineering, we actively leverage AI to accelerate development, improve code quality, and push the boundaries of engineering productivity. We use tools them to streamline coding, automate repetitive tasks, and catch issues early through AI-assisted code reviews and QA. Beyond day to day engineering, I’m also driving the development of a next generation agentic AI system designed to support our software engineers in “outer loop” activities — such as ideation, documentation, system analysis and end to end workflow orchestration — so they can focus more on high value creative problem solving. This combination of hands on AI augmentation and forward looking AI innovation helps elevate both individual and team performance.

Championing a Human and Homely Work Culture

I wear two hats: driving innovation and strengthening the bank’s resilience. On one side, I focus on building new capabilities. On the other, I ensure our applications remain available 24/7 and continue working even under poor connectivity conditions or major system outages.

Despite the push for innovation, the bank has retained its warm and homely culture. People genuinely care about one another and want colleagues to succeed. Structures like our buddy systems help new joiners settle in quickly. In doing my part to build a supportive environment, I have personally mentored engineers.

I am also a strong advocate for nurturing young talent. I make it a point to involve interns in cutting edge projects because they bring fresh perspectives. I actively support programmes like OCBC Ignite and OCBC FRANKpreneurship, where interns and young talents are encouraged to innovate, experiment, and fail safely. Trying, learning, and iterating are how we build knowledge and future proof ourselves.

This year marks my 16th year at OCBC. While we continue to push boundaries with AI, digital banking, and customer-centric innovation, I will continue to seize opportunities here.

Every journey starts with a choice. When was the last time you said yes? Opportunity Starts Here.