TM appoints Mohd Rais Azhar as its new CTIO

• New role is in addition to existing chief information security officer responsibility
• Takes over from retired Rafaai Samsi who served TM for 4 decades

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd (TM) today announced the appointment of Mohd Rais Azhar (pic) as its new Chief Technology & Innovation Officer (CTIO) with effect from 18 February 2018, following the retirement of Rafaai Samsi as the CTIO of TM on 14 February 2018. Prior to this, Mohd Rais was the Deputy CTIO, and in addition to his role as the new CTIO, Mohd Rais remains the Chief Information Security Officer of TM - the position that he has served since 2017.

Mohd Rais joined TM in 1988, and 2018 marks his 30th year with the Company. As TM’s CTIO, he will be responsible for Network, IT and overall technical delivery, fulfilment and assurance for TM Group. In addition, Mohd Rais will strategise, formulate, direct and lead the implementation and operations of Information Security organisation. This covers Information Security Strategy, Architecture, Governance, Risk, Compliance, Development, Threat Intelligent and Operations in order to ensure the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of information assets protection for TM Group.

Commenting on the new appointment, Mohammed Shazalli Ramly, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM said, “We are pleased to congratulate Mohd Rais on his promotion as TM’s CTIO. As a TM home grown leader, he has the experience and expertise to elevate innovation at TM in the era of digital natives.”

Mohd Rais has vast experience in Malaysia’s telecommunications industry and was one of the pioneers in establishing Corporate Information Superhighway (COINS) team, providing TM’s first Frame Relay service back in 1997. In addition, Mohd Rais has been involved in and actively led numerous transformation projects in TM including both High Speed Broadband (HSBB) projects.

Meanwhile, Shazalli also expressed his utmost gratitude to Rafaai for his dedication, contribution and loyalty to the TM Group during his tenure, “We would like to express our highest gratitude to Rafaai for all that he has done for TM. In the 40 years that he has served TM and the nation, he has engineered not just our technical transformation, but more importantly, our transformation from being a network-oriented company, to one that is service-oriented.”

“As the former CTIO, Rafaai’s behind-the-scenes contribution and efforts towards TM’s success goes beyond Information Technology & Network Technology. The change that he pioneered at Customer Experience has been transformational. He has changed the mindset of Warga Keluarga TM to become even more customer-centric. This is certainly in line with our consistently above global telco average Customer Satisfaction Measure (TRI*M) index scores over the years - a testament to our concerted efforts in improving customer experience. This laid the foundation of TM as Malaysia’s Convergence Champion and strengthens our brand promise of ‘Life Made Easier’,” he added.

“We are grateful for not just his professional and technical contributions to the Group, but also his efforts in nurturing talent. Rafaai has been a mentor and coach to many people in TM that are now among our current crop of leaders. The management and Warga Keluarga TM are immensely grateful to Rafaai for his leadership and all his contributions to the company,” Shazalli concluded.