81: How to get 7.6 Billion People Onboard with Inclusive Innovation

Have you met innovators who, no matter where they go, have this uncanny ability to take a particular talent, skill, and vision with them? Today’s guest, Zia Zaman, Head of Business Development at Microsoft Asia, does all this and more. He also brings a sense of innovation to the world of inclusivity and brings these two things together beautifully.

Listen in as we explore the world of innovation across multiple industries and continents. Zia shares with me about being inspired by the ESG efforts of Microsoft and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are part of your tribe and people you can learn from that are from diverse backgrounds.

We talk about Microsoft’s mission to empower every organization and individual to achieve more. For Zia, this means improving healthcare, scaling financial inclusion, and reducing the risks around decarbonization in a purpose-driven role. Finally he discusses working with a community of brilliant thinkers, from across the world, at the Aspen Institute.

Guest Details: 

Name: Zia Zaman
Title:  GM Business Development
Company: Microsoft Asia
LinkedIn | Twitter | Microsoft | Aspen Institute | Check out Regression by Zia Zaman

As GM of Business Development for Microsoft Asia, Zia Zaman leads growth strategies, M&A, commercial partnerships and strategic investments across Microsoft’s core industries and solution areas. With extensive experience in growth and innovation, he leads a team to discover and deliver on unique local opportunities to empower customers and partners across the region.

Before joining Microsoft, Zaman was the Chief Innovation Officer for MetLife Asia and CEO of MetLife’s LumenLab, an innovation lab that executed pilots that increased inclusion, improved health outcomes, and leveraged FinTech across three continents. He was also the Chairperson for Diversity & Inclusion across all of MetLife Asia. Prior to that he was Chief Strategy Officer for SingTel’s Group Enterprise running its innovation portfolio including cloud. With a background in consulting, he also brings experience from his leadership roles with LG, FAST, Gartner, and Sun Microsystems.

He currently sits on the Board of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore. Zaman holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, a Bachelor’s Degree from MIT in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree from MIT in Operations Research. Zaman is also a Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Zaman is married with two children and lives in Singapore.