Leadership

Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican

Non-Executive Non-Independent Chairman

Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican was appointed as DNB's Chairman of the Board effective 20 May 2024. He is currently the Secretary General of Treasury, Ministry of Finance. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Secretary General (Policy) at the Ministry of Finance since March 2022. Tan Sri Johan has served in the Government in various roles such as the National Budget Director at the Ministry of Finance, Deputy Director General of the Economic Planning Unit, and Chief Executive Officer of Talent Corporation Malaysia. Before serving the Government in 2004, he had worked for 9 years in corporate finance and accounting roles in the private sector. Tan Sri Johan is a qualified Chartered Accountant of Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and graduated with an Economics Degree from the University of Cambridge.

Ma Sivanesan Marimuthu

Board Member

Mr Ma Sivanesan is currently the Deputy Secretary General (Digital Development) at the Ministry of Digital. He has extensive experience in public finance, particularly in tax policies, encompassing both direct and indirect taxes. Mr Ma Sivanesan began his career as an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer in 1996 and has since served in various capacities within the Ministry of Finance Malaysia. Throughout his tenure, he has been instrumental in the preparation of numerous annual national budgets, contributing significantly to the development of various tax policies and investment incentives. He led the implementation of the Sales Tax and Service Tax, which replaced the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Prior to this, he played a key role in the implementation of the GST, focusing on policy, publicity, and systems. His experience extends to managing postal and telecommunication policy, cybersecurity, and the digital economy, with notable contributions to the 5G rollout, the national fibreisation and connectivity plan, and the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint. Currently, he is spearheading and providing strategic leadership in establishing GovTech Malaysia and the National AI Office (AI Malaysia). Mr Ma Sivanesan holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Malaya and a Master’s in Economics from Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. He also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from the National Institute of Public Administration.

Datuk Kamal Khalid

Chairman of Nomination and Remuneration Committee

Datuk Kamal is currently CelcomDigi’s Chief Strategy, Transformation and Regulatory Officer. He was previously the Chief Corporate and Transformation Officer at Celcom, where his duties included overseeing functions such as regulatory affairs, legal, community, sustainability, and the company’s enterprise project management office. He was also the Lead of the Merger Integration Team from July 2021 to November 2022. Prior to joining Celcom, Datuk Kamal held various leadership positions, including Group Managing Director of Media Prima Bhd and Head of Communications for the Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia. Datuk Kamal holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Nottingham, England.  

Uthaya Kumar A/L K Vivekananda

Chairman of Audit and Risk Committee

Uthaya Kumar is currently Audit and Risk Committee (Chairman) and Nomination and Remuneration Committee (Member) of Maxis Berhad. He is also an Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committees of Bumi Armada Berhad. Previously, he was a senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Southeast Asia Peninsula (PwC) and he was with PwC for 35 years. He has led and worked on some of the most challenging and complex assignments, both in Malaysia and globally, working with multinational and blue-chip national clients in audit, business advisory, mergers and acquisitions, valuations, privatisations, initial public offerings and cross-border transactions. Kumar is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales,CF Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and a Member of the Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants.  

Dato’ Seri Yeoh Seok Hong

Chairman of Board Cybersecurity Committee and Board Tender Committee

Dato’ Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek

Alternate to Dato’ Seri Yeoh Seok Hong

Dato’ Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi has more than 25 years of industry experience holding several senior positions both in the public and private sector. He was the past Executive Chairman of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and presently serves on multiple boards of companies in the areas of payment transaction, healthcare, education and telecommunications; as well as being an Adjunct Professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), UCSI University and Perdana University. Prior to serving MCMC, Dato Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi was Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Perdana University. Before that he served in various senior management positions in Telekom Malaysia and Board representation in companies both locally and internationally (1998-2010). After TM, he was made Director in the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) at the Prime Minister’s Office, driving the Economic Transformation Programme and Government Transformation Programme (2010-2017), jointly serving as the Chief Communications Officer for the government between 2014-2018.  Whilst at PEMANDU, he had provided advisory and consultancy to countries in Africa, Oman, Sri Lanka and some States in India. He is an alumni of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, National University of Singapore and University of Leeds; in addition to having attended the Senior Management Programme at INSEAD and at University of Strathclyde.  

Prateek Nikhil Pashine

Alternate to Uthaya Kumar A/L K Vivekananda

Prateek is a business and technology leader with more than 30 years of experience running and building B2C and B2B businesses. He currently heads Maxis Business, leading the digitalisation of Malaysia’s corporate, government, SME and wholesale sectors, while helping build a more connected, future-ready economy. His leadership combines deep commercial, strategic and operational expertise across business planning and strategy, sales, marketing, procurement, project financing and large-scale technology deployment. His career spans the hospitality, software, real estate, and telecommunications equipment and services sectors, giving him a broad perspective on the infrastructure and digital capabilities businesses require to grow. Before joining Maxis, he spent over 20 years with the Tata Group, holding senior leadership positions at Tata Teleservices and Tata Communications. He later established and led Reliance Jio’s Enterprise Business for approximately five years, scaling enterprise ICT capabilities and delivering connectivity, private networks, mobility, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and cybersecurity solutions to enterprises and public-sector agencies. He has also shaped global industry dialogue and standards through his roles as Chairman of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and Board Member of the WiMAX Forum.

Datuk Azman Ismail

Chief Executive Officer

With a distinguished career spanning 36 years, Datuk Azman Ismail has held key positions in various sectors, most recently with PLUS Malaysia Berhad, where he spearheaded digital transformation and sustainability initiatives, leading the company to become the first in Malaysia’s highway sector to sign the UN Global Compact. Prior to joining the highway operator, he was the Managing Director of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and, concurrently, the General Manager of its retail business, overseeing Shell’s petroleum retailing in Malaysia and Brunei. In his 30-year career at Shell, Datuk Azman held leadership positions in the operations, retail, and finance departments. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has served on numerous boards and advisory panels.

Datuk Ahmad Zaki Zahid

Chief Corporate Officer

Datuk Zaki has more than 28 years of work experience in Government policy, strategy, executive leadership, entrepreneurship and regulatory work.  He is well-versed in governance, politics, financial management, legal and regulatory matters.  He was formerly Managing Director of Knusford Berhad and QSR Brands as well as Executive Director of Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad. Datuk Zaki was also the Head of Policy and Special Officer to the Prime Minister from 2003 to 2009. 

Ken Tan Tzi Kieng

Chief Technology Officer

Ken Tan has more than 20 years of work experience in the telecommunications industry and has successfully delivered on network and IT transformation programmes. He was a key member of the Senior Leadership team that deployed the world’s first 5G Fixed Wireless Access Network and Australia’s Mobile Speed Leadership. His most recent role was Head/VP of Digital Networks with Singtel Optus.

Wan Mohd Zam Wan Embong

General Counsel and Regulatory

Wan Mohd Zam has around 30 years of working experience. He started his career as an advocate and solicitor and subsequently assumed in-house legal positions with several organisations. He is the former General Counsel for Panasonic Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd and McDonald’s Malaysia. His most recent role prior to joining DNB was as McDonald’s Legal Director in Singapore, where he provided support to multiple international markets.