'Our core value is to truly enrich lives by technology': Long Ziyang, CEO of Republic Power Pte Ltd.

Office workers today, around the world, spend approximately 69 days each year on menial administrative tasks. These man-hours can instead be utilized for higher-value tasks. And this can be easily achieved by using smart automation. However, the drastically changing external environment means cost savings and productivity are not sufficient to sustain a competitive advantage in fast-paced environments. Organizations now have to provide a supreme customer experience, react swiftly to market changes, and make fast data-driven decisions. But how do you achieve such digital transformation? Singapore-based Republic Power can help with this and more.

Republic Power was founded with the vision of enriching lives through smart technology. The company attributes a large part of its success to its philosophy of driving positive and meaningful change and its work has done wonders for its clients in the F&B, Health, and Medical Industries.

We recently interviewed Long Ziyang, CEO of Republic Power Pte Ltd., to know more about the company's work and vision. Read on for the excerpts from the interview.

Q. How according to you does smart automation help organizations?       

I believe that smart automation will improve the current inefficiencies within an organization. Certain repetitive processes can be done via automation to reduce any potential errors, thus, allowing the team to focus on other decision-making matters. Furthermore, there are many case studies that would show reduction in costs as well as increase in revenue from automation assisted by Artificial Intelligence.

Q. Tell us about a work problem that required a complicated solution and how you worked with your team to resolve it?

We had a procurement issue with one of our classified overseas project. Due to the nature of the project, we couldn’t reveal the reasons for procurement to the overseas supplier. But after negotiating with the owner of the business with some clearances from the client, we were able to get the items in safely and on time. Inter-border situations like these are tricky, especially when there is a language barrier; but I am thankful that I have a strong team whichis able to assist me in maneuvering through such asticky situations. 

Q. What tools and strategies do you use to organize and prioritize your work to best meet team goals, expectations, and deliverables?

Our virtual boardroom is our most important tool to connect with the team. And we have weekly meetings to discuss any pressing issues or progress updates; they shared during this timeframe.

Thankfully, I do have a team that works with similar goals in mind with agreed expectations and desired outcomes. So,this reduces the hiccups as we move along. I do find that a daily scrum meeting with my respective heads of departments / C-Level executives provides a general blueprint or agenda throughout the week.

Q. How has pandemic changed the way you work?

With COVID knocking us around for almost two years now, the need for digitalization has never been more necessary as the general workforce was all of a sudden introduced to the new concept of “Working From Home.” Meetings with clients, my team and partners have suddenly all changed to video conferencing rather than meeting over a cup-of-coffee. It has brought a positive as well as an adverse change to the way I work ultimately. We have a lot more flexibility that promotes a healthier work-life balance, but the opportunity cost to this flexibility is the reduction in human touch, the communication with my team as well as our partners.

Q. Give us a deeper dive on emerging technologies.

Artificial Intelligence and Nanotechnology would probably be my flavor of the decade. I believe that there is much to be exploredin this vastly untapped arena. AI is something that Republic Power is passionate about and constantly striving to work on this frontier. AI that are able to perform predictive analysis would be able to help businesses of all sectors immensely to reduce any redundancies and maximize the efficiencies of an organization from a workforce and skill-pool perspective. That being said, not everything can be done by AI, we need human brains to teach the AI, afterwards the AI can teach themselves through the data we feed in. This way, machines with AI technology will eventually change the way we work and live.

Q. Could you shed some light on the adoption of smart automation solutions?

A good example would be an international airport word for. We have deployed our smart automated solution for one of the airports in South East Asia via managing their ground operations within terminal from trolley management to general maintenance and security and hopefully their passenger management via our AI engine. We are currently able to assist in analyzing the current passenger flow and ensuring sufficient trolley and staff for the expecting gate as well as ensure the maintenance from the restrooms to lighting etc. Everything is fully communicated to the ground staff to avoid any delays or redundant servicing.

Q. What are your core values and how have they helped in the company’s growth?

Our core value is to truly enrich lives by technology. We started R&D from day one on medical platforms for developing nations and smart automation for airports and cruise port terminals via our AI platforms. The growth of our company is evident due to our proven track record in the deployment of our Smart AI technology in airports and ports. Our next frontier is to be able to deploy our medical platform that we hope could benefit the masses.

Q. Could you tell us a bit about your Medical Automation innovation?

We are hoping to create a holistic platform that combines the hardware required with the AI to connect the people in remote areas to healthcare professionals. Our platform would be able to provide preliminary assessment for the doctors to assess if this warrants a more thorough follow up at the local hospital or if treatment could be provided remotely.

"We are hoping to create a holistic platform that combines the hardware required with the AI to connect the people in remote areas to healthcare professionals."

About the Leader

Long Ziyang, CEO

After graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics, Long decided to get real world experience as soon as possible. He joined the finance department of a listed company, where he gained corporate finance experience.  Few years later, he joined an auditing firm to expand his knowledge base and it was during this period that Long gained insights into the inner workings of these companies that he had audited previously. He then set up his own company, and began providing accounting services to SMEs and solving their pain points in the general business operations.

Even though he was in the accounting and finance space, IT industry had always been intriguing to me. So, hehas dabbled in software programming, AI, and blockchain technology. This led him to meet the founder of Republic Power Pte Ltd, and subsequently join the company's management team in September 2020. In September 2021, he was promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer due to his extensive contribution and exemplary performance.

"Our next frontier is to be able to deploy our medical platform that we hope could benefit the masses."