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In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen

HIGHLIGHTS: Tan Su Shan - CEO of DBS

In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen

Norges Bank Investment Management

In Good Company, Business, Norges Bank, Nicolai Tangen

4.8 • 186 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We've curated a special 10-minute version of the podcast for those in a hurry.  

 

Here you can listen to the full episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/dbs-ceo-transforming-southeast-asian-banking-embracing/id1614211565?i=1000735330637&l=nb


What does it take to lead Southeast Asia’s largest bank in an age of disruption? Nicolai Tangen sits down in Singapore with Tan Su Shan, CEO of DBS, to talk about banking’s digital future, the Singapore success story, and what leadership means in turbulent times. Su Shan explains how the bank is harnessing AI, building resilience amid geopolitical fractures, and staying true to its development roots. She also shares candid reflections on her own journey—why she once chose to “demote” herself for the sake of impact, how reverse mentoring keeps her fresh, and why curiosity, resilience, and empathy are at the heart of her leadership style. (And don’t miss the twist at the end—when Su Shan turns the tables with a few questions of her own for Nicolai. Tune in!)

In Good Company is hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. New full episodes every Wednesday, and don't miss our Highlight episodes every Friday. 

 

The production team for this episode includes Isabelle Karlsson and PLAN-B's Niklas Figenschau Johansen, Sebastian Langvik-Hansen and Pål Huuse. Background research was conducted by Oscar Hjelde.

 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, everybody. Tune in to this short version of the podcast, which we do every Friday for the long version.

0:06.4

Tune in on Wednesdays.

0:09.1

Hi, everyone. I'm Nikola Hangen, the CEO of the Norwegian Southern Welfand Fund. And today I'm in

0:13.7

particularly good company because I am in Singapore. And I'm speaking to Sushan, who's CEO of

0:19.8

DBS, the largest bank in this part of the world.

0:23.0

And not only that, Sushan is one of the most important and powerful women in global finance.

0:29.1

So, big thank you for taking the time.

0:32.3

Yeah, I always, yeah, it's not, I'm not comfortable with that, but okay.

0:37.3

Well, that's just the fact. That's just the fact.

0:39.8

So, Sean, DBS, tell us about it.

0:43.5

So we were formed two, three years after Singapore was born in 1965, DBS was the Development Bank of Singapore.

0:51.0

Really, to develop Singapore, in those days days we were a small, unindustrialized

0:56.2

little island and I guess we have evolved from our development roots down to being the largest

1:02.0

commercial bank in Southeast Asia. But I like to use the D word because DBS, you know, although

1:08.2

it stands for Development Bank of Singapore, I think we have evolved.

1:12.6

I think we've gone from being a development bank now to being a very digital bank.

1:17.2

I'd like to think we are a disruptive bank,

1:19.6

but I also want us to remain the dependable bank

1:22.8

and also the data bank of the future.

1:26.3

How have you helped develop Singapore?

1:28.3

Well, in the initial days of Singapore's birth,

1:31.8

independence in 1965,

...

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