Designing the revenue engine of tomorrow’s business
The businesses poised to thrive are those that view transformation with a forward-looking mindset
SINGAPORE’S businesses stand at the convergence of opportunity and challenges. While the city-state’s position as a global trade hub provides unparalleled access to South-east Asia’s dynamic markets, challenges such as economic recalibration, supply chain and trade disruptions, talent shortages, and rapid technological change are reshaping the competitive landscape.
To navigate this environment, businesses must move beyond reactive adaptation. The central question is how to intentionally design future-ready business models that not only withstand disruption, but also create new streams of revenue and value.
“The most resilient organisations no longer ask if they can adapt to change, but how they can use design to anticipate it, shape it and unlock new commercial opportunities,” says Ajay Kumar Sanganeria, partner and head of tax at KPMG in Singapore.
“This is about embedding a strategic design ethos into the core of the business – influencing everything from supply chains and talent strategy to market entry and customer experience. It’s a fundamental shift from viewing design as an aesthetic layer to leveraging it as a strategic driver of revenue and growth.”
This concept extends far beyond the popular notion of design-thinking. It involves architecting the entire business model – its structure, operations and customer journey – to be inherently agile, sustainable and profitable.
Much like how Singapore, a Unesco Creative City of Design, has used design principles to overcome national constraints, businesses must now reimagine their operating models to thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape. This transformation can be guided by three core pillars: embedding resilience, treating talent as a strategic asset, and fostering collaboration across ecosystems.
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Seizing the “blockbuster moment”
While every sector faces mounting pressure to evolve, certain industries have reached what Peter Liddell, global leader, operations centre of excellence, KPMG in Singapore, calls their “blockbuster moment”: a critical juncture where, given technological advancement, changing customer demands and heightened regulatory requirements, business redesign is no longer optional.
The healthcare and life sciences sector, for one, is witnessing a dramatic shift from traditional large-scale production to personalised approaches.
Liddell explains that as therapies transform due to rapid product innovation, pharmaceutical and biotech companies will move away from mass manufacturing of pills and vaccines towards targeted therapies and bespoke treatments, prompting a comprehensive rethink of their research and development, clinical trial and supply chain logistics.
Manufacturing faces profound disruption from Industry 4.0 technologies, too, while aerospace and defence companies grapple with supply chain disruptions and geopolitical complexities.
Renewable energy companies need models that scale rapidly and integrate advanced technologies, such as energy storage and smart grids, while the fintech, logistics and education technology sectors now lean towards platform-based and on-demand service models.
Says Sanganeria: “Across the business landscape, organisations face a growing imperative to reframe their operating models as they navigate rapid change and rising expectations. Without innovative, future-ready business models, they risk falling behind as competitors reshape markets around technology, data, sustainability and personalised services.”
Built to sustain – embedding resilience
Redesigning a business model to be one that is “built to sustain” starts with reconceptualising the supply chain as the operational backbone. When resilience takes precedence over short-term cost savings, businesses can design supply chains agile enough to withstand geopolitical tensions, climate-related events or sudden market shifts.
This means diversifying supplier bases, implementing regionalisation and near-shoring strategies, and establishing robust risk-management practices to ensure business continuity.
Also crucial is embedding sustainability into the business architecture, such that green procurement, responsible sourcing, emissions tracking and circular economy practices are not optional add-ons but essential components.
Beyond meeting the rising environmental, social and governance expectations of regulators, investors and customers, Sanganeria says sustainability has become a core driver of competitive positioning – unlocking new growth opportunities, especially as tax, finance and risk functions evolve into strategic enablers.
Liddell also notes that companies will need to view sustainability through a different lens. “Sustainability is no longer just a compliance exercise; it is a strategic differentiator in a market increasingly shaped by environmental considerations.”
A sustainable business model also leverages digital transformation – artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things and real-time analytics – alongside scenario-planning tools such as digital twins and supply chain control towers. These, Liddell says, enable businesses to identify potential bottlenecks or risks early and make swift, informed decisions.
People first – talent as a strategic resource
Since people are the enablers of every business improvement, a second pillar of business model redesign is a “people first” approach. Singapore’s persistently low birth rate projects a super-aged society, making talent transformation an existential challenge for businesses.
“Home-grown talent will be an increasingly scarce and strategic resource,” says Shelley Chan, partner, people, performance and culture, KPMG in Singapore. “Reactive strategies are no longer sufficient.”
Instead, businesses need sector-specific road maps that anticipate how AI and emerging technologies are reshaping job roles. “Such road maps must answer critical questions: Can the current workforce be upskilled in time? Do we have the expertise to deliver that upskilling? If not, is Singapore able to attract that talent?” Chan says.
KPMG has embedded this approach across its own talent lifecycle, from acquisition to alumni engagement. Digital tools such as AI-powered assistant Clara streamline recruitment, while initiatives such as the Next Generation Board yield ground-up insights from emerging young leaders within the workforce – examples of how businesses can design career pathways that align individual aspirations with business needs.
The urgency extends to smaller enterprises and family-run businesses facing unique constraints, such as limited access to advanced AI tools or proprietary platforms.
“Labour-intensive sectors are particularly vulnerable,” Chan notes. “With onshore staffing costs rising, automation is no longer optional – it’s imperative. Small and medium-sized enterprises and family-run businesses are thus beginning to explore creative strategies and partnerships to accelerate transformation and unlock new efficiencies.”
Growth@Scale – ecosystem collaboration
To achieve “Growth@Scale” – a third pillar of business model redesign – businesses ought to look beyond traditional partnerships to embrace multi-directional collaborations spanning industries, geographies and even competitors.
“For Singapore businesses, adopting an ecosystem approach is particularly important given the country’s role as a global trade hub,” Sanganeria explains.
“Businesses here face external shocks like shifting trade dynamics, rising compliance requirements and geopolitical uncertainties. To stay competitive, they need to diversify markets, form flexible alliances and leverage digital platforms to adapt quickly.”
This requires thinking strategically about how to balance open innovation with preserving competitive advantage. Businesses must identify where collaboration drives growth – joint innovation, shared infrastructure or ecosystem-wide sustainability initiatives – while protecting core assets such as proprietary technologies and customer data, Sanganeria notes.
Singapore’s innovation ecosystem provides practical frameworks through regulatory sandboxes and cross-sector partnerships. These allow businesses to test new solutions and share insights while maintaining control over critical assets.
But ecosystem collaboration also introduces complex tax and compliance considerations, including transfer pricing, indirect taxes such as goods and services tax and new digital taxes. Success thus requires robust governance frameworks, clear partner agreements and proactive risk management.
A path forward
“All three pillars are essential for Singapore’s businesses because each addresses a critical supply chain requirement in today’s volatile and competitive environment,” Liddell stresses. “The most effective transformations are those that harmonise all three simultaneously.”
The businesses poised to thrive are those that view transformation with a forward-looking mindset. Liddell says: “Organisations that invest in digital transformation, cross-functional collaboration and adaptive governance are better positioned to lead in this new era.
“By rethinking their operating models with growth, agility and innovation in mind, these industries can not only navigate disruption, but also set the pace for the future.”
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