How Grab handpicks tech talent, as told by its ‘sea turtle’ hire

What does it take to become a unicorn in Southeast Asia? While much of it relies on timing as well as the ability to disrupt the status quo and significantly improve users’ lives in the rapidly developing region, an equally important factor is hiring the right talent.

For Jesse Lim, head of product at Grab, joining the tech major wasn’t so much a homecoming as it was a decision born out of the opportunities he saw in the region. Today, he looks after multiple product families within Grab, including its transport arm and other horizontal platforms, such as communications and driver support. He’s also in charge of the Grab360 performance management tool, which is for the company’s internal use.

But Lim’s path to this point was not quite a linear one.

A moment in time

Back in the ’90s, the Grab hire harbored strong ambitions of becoming a documentary filmmaker, and so he pursued a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and electronic communications in the US. Sensing the need to broaden his field of knowledge, however, Lim also minored in computer science, and he took on full-stack and front-end development engineering roles in California and Washington for the next five years.

It was during his time at software giant Microsoft between 2000 and 2012 that a new door opened: Lim got the chance to be a product designer, a role that helped in his transition into a product manager for several functions, including the core search experience under search engine Bing.

These stints set the stage for Lim’s full-time shift into product management at ecommerce marketplace eBay and real estate firm Realtor.

Jesse Lim, head of product at Grab / Photo credit: Grab

“When I first graduated, the US was the place to be for tech careers,” Lim observes. “Aside from career opportunities, I also wanted to continue living in the US to travel and visit different cities when I wasn’t working.”

On the other side of the world, however, change was in the air. Up until over a decade ago, Southeast Asia had statistically low internet penetration rates. But by 2014, the region began seeing a steady stream of ambitious startups cropping up in cities including Singapore and Jakarta, a trend that soon attracted the interest of venture capitalists over the next few years.

Ripe for change

Despite these movements in the region’s tech scene, it was only in 2018 that Lim really started paying attention. While contemplating a relocation from San Francisco’s Bay Area, he attended the Singapore Tech Forum, where he learned about the potential and growth opportunities in Southeast Asia.

The following year, Lim assumed his new role at Grab.

“What struck me was the size of Southeast Asia’s internet economy. It was larger than I’d imagined, and there were many product-centric companies helping to fuel this growth,” he recalls. “It was around this time that I thought, ‘This could work out for me.’”

At around the same time, Grab was already eyeing “sea turtles” – tech professionals that have worked for multinational corporations abroad and are looking to bring their wealth of experiences back home – and saw that Lim fit the bill.

Building strong teams also feeds into Grab’s mission of creating economic empowerment for people in the region. To achieve this, the company focuses on taking a hyperlocal approach to the hiring process.

The first step is to identify whether a potential tech hire has the right skill set, which is constantly evolving, especially in Southeast Asia. Ronnie Tan, global head of human resources at Grab, points out how developed countries outside the region are often guarded by bureaucracy constraints, particularly around emerging technologies.

Ronnie Tan, global head of human resources at Grab / Photo credit: Grab

“By contrast, companies in Southeast Asia can move past this legacy construct because they operate in the digital age, with many of them focused on consumer-centricity,” he says.

He shares that this consumer-centricity stems from the desire to simplify users’ lives – which, in Grab’s case, might involve making payments via a digital wallet, grocery shopping through the app, or ordering food deliveries.

Creating this seamless user experience starts with the people working in the background: the many data scientists, engineers, and product managers who make the magic happen. These roles may have taken shape and grown in demand with the emergence of AI and machine-learning, but the parameters of what defines tech talent will continue to change, especially as technology evolves.

Tackling blind spots

“Too often, companies have too much of an obsession with hires who are technically enabled, such as software developers,” Tan observes. “In fact, having softer skills such as agility, creativity, and the ability to collaborate with other tech specialists are just as critical to ensuring that a product’s components are well implemented.”

It’s a sentiment that Lim agrees with. Having spent almost two years with Grab, the head of product says he’s seen for himself how legions of users have benefited from the company’s service. Merchants have been empowered to reach a wider group of customers, especially during the pandemic, and drivers got a platform from which they could earn a living while having the opportunity to upskill through initiatives such as the GrabAcademy.

All of this begins behind the scenes, with having the right team in place.

“Coming from [San Francisco’s] Bay Area, I’ve seen that Grab is just as diverse as the US companies I’ve worked for,” Lim says, adding that there are many opportunities for collaboration and learning with colleagues of different backgrounds and cultures across 59 nationalities.

Rather than have a hire simply fill a role, however, the tech giant works to ensure that its employees constantly find growth – whether through formal learning and development opportunities, leadership observations and interactions, or exploring areas beyond the parameters of a role to develop cross-functional knowledge.

For instance, an employee might be exposed to functional or technical skills and knowledge, with the end-goal of becoming the face for a particular vertical, such as Grab’s digital financial services business. Gaining this kind of exposure is a crucial advantage in Southeast Asia, where mobile-first populations of digital natives are on the rise. These consumers have a readiness to adopt new technologies and an appetite for products that can make a difference in their lives.

“While I don’t foresee dramatic changes to what defines ‘tech talent’ in Southeast Asia, a tech worker should still possess the learned abilities and competencies to problem-solve as well as communicate these models effectively,” Lim concludes.

Grab is Southeast Asia’s “everyday, everything” app providing mobility, logistics and financial services to millions of users across Southeast Asia. The tech giant aims to unlock the true potential of the region by solving the problems that hinder progress for our communities.

Explore a career with Grab by visiting the official page.

This content was produced by Tech in Asia Studios, which connects brands with Asia’s tech community. Learn more about partnering with Tech in Asia Studios.