Speaker Bio
Thillai Raj T. Ramanathan is a distinguished technology leader with over 30 years of global expertise spanning innovation, digital transformation, and industry partnerships. Currently serving as Chief Technology Officer at BAC Education Group and Adjunct Professor at UNIMY, he has an exceptional track record of leading large-scale R&D initiatives, securing 600+ patents (400 commercialized), and delivering transformative solutions across finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and smart cities. Recognized in CIO.com’s inaugural CIO50 Awards for ASEAN in 2019 by CIO, a Foundry (formerly IDG Communications) brand headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, for driving digital innovation, and recently elected Fellow of the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW) in December 2025, his leadership has driven BAC Education Group to win the Malaysia Technology Excellence Award by Asian Business Review for five consecutive years (2021–2025). As former CTO of MIMOS Berhad, he generated RM300 million in technology monetization while leading 500 researchers and establishing Malaysia as a regional technology hub.
An IIT Madras graduate with Six Sigma Black Belt and CMMI Assessment credentials, Mr. Thillai has held senior leadership roles at Motorola, Flextronics, and Solectron, where he managed global engineering teams of up to 20,000 engineers across multiple continents. His contributions extend beyond corporate leadership: he serves as Steering Committee Member of i-CONNECT (Akademi Sains Malaysia), sits on the boards of Digital Penang and Veritas University College, acts as an Independent Expert for the PADU system and Digital ID initiatives, and actively mentors young researchers. He has organized over 11 industry-focused tech talks featuring global leaders from organizations such as Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft. With nine individual patents in telecommunications and deep expertise across AI, cloud computing (Azure/AWS), cybersecurity, and Industry 4.0, he continues to bridge academia and industry while championing ICT education for underprivileged communities through initiatives such as the “1 Million Device” programme.