Raymond Davadass appointed chair of GBS Malaysia as industry shifts toward higher-value digital services

• Shaping next chapter of Malaysia’s digital services economy
• GBS Malaysia recorded more than 36,000 new jobs created since 2021

Raymond Davadass, Daythree Bhd, CEO has been appointed Chair of GBS Malaysia, a chapter of PIKOM – the National Tech Association of Malaysia, reflecting the industry’s ongoing shift from cost-led transactional services toward higher-value, digital, and intelligence-driven services. He will serve a two-year term to Dec 2027.

The appointment comes as Malaysia enters a more advanced phase of the GBS Malaysia Strategy 2022 to 2027, with the sector shifting from increasingly focused on digital capability, productivity, and intelligence-led service delivery. Since the strategy was launched, the sector has expanded rapidly, with 749 GBS entities now operating in Malaysia, a 66.8% increase, while total investments have grown 13.5 times from RM0.73 billion in 2021 to RM9.87 billion in 2024. GBS Malaysia also recorded more than 36,000 new jobs created since 2021, highlighting the sector’s growing role in the national digital economy.

Malaysia is also one of only a handful of countries that consistently ranks among the world’s top three global locations for offshore and global business services, according to Kearney’s 2023 Global Services Location Index, reflecting its strengths in multilingual talent, digital infrastructure, and service delivery capability.

[Ed: Malaysia has been a perennial third in Kearney’s rankings since the first Index was released in 2004 when it was known as Global Offshoring Location Index.]

“Malaysia has built a strong foundation as a global services location, but the next phase is about moving up the value chain. That means deeper digital skills, stronger data foundations, and operating models that can support more complex, insight-driven work,” said Raymond. He added that GBS Malaysia has a critical role to play in aligning industry, talent and policy to ensure this shift happens at speed and scale.

GBS Malaysia plays a central role in coordinating this transformation across industry, government and academia. Its work focuses on strengthening digital talent pipelines, advancing automation and data-driven delivery models, and ensuring Malaysia remains competitive against fast-moving global and regional peers that are investing heavily in technology-enabled services.

Raymond brings more than two decades of experience in building and operating technology-enabled business services across multiple industries and markets. As CEO of Daythree, a listed Malaysian-headquartered digital-first business process services (BPS) provider, he has been closely involved in the shift from traditional service delivery models towards intelligence-led, data-driven operations that deliver higher-value outcomes for clients and consumers.

GBS Malaysia has consistently highlighted the need to focus on talent regeneration, digital capabilities and data governance as core enablers of this transition. Industry benchmarking shows that countries that invest aggressively in digital skills, education and modern service platforms are climbing global rankings quickly, making it essential for Malaysia to continue evolving its value proposition beyond cost and scale.

The council under his leadership is expected to continue to work closely with government agencies, education partners, and service providers to operationalise the priorities set out in the GBS Malaysia Strategy 2022 – 2027. This includes strengthening industry-academia collaboration, supporting the adoption of automation and analytics across service operations, and reinforcing Malaysia’s position as a trusted location for high-value digital services.

The appointment reflects the sector’s focus on getting the next phase right on the ground. As competition intensifies across the region, GBS Malaysia will need leadership that understands how digital capability, talent and operating models come together in real service environments, not just on paper.