Lord of change

IBM's chief digital officer Bob Lord is a self-confessed "transformation junkie" whose raison d'etre is to take apart digital entities and reposition them for the future.

Published Fri, Jan 20, 2017 · 09:50 PM

IBM

BOB Lord, chief digital officer (CDO) of IBM, has just wrapped up a panel discussion at the Singapore FinTech Festival at the Singapore Expo, during which he enthused about the future of financial technology (fintech).

There's no let-up in his fervour about the latest hot big industry, as he sits down with The Business Times minutes after, cordial and all smiles. "The (Singapore) government is really getting behind it now, which is really fantastic," he says as he waxes lyrical about the sector that suddenly erupted in popularity here in 2016, and even scored an inaugural festival last November.

Mr Lord, whose full name is Robert William Lord, is enthusiastic like that.

Despite his hectic schedule - the New York-based executive is in town for only a couple of days - he is affable and speaks passionately about his work, family and his many interests t…