Neil Russel
Head of Operations & People
Talk about AI and digital transformation often sparks anxiety about jobs disappearing, entire professions becoming obsolete, and people being left behind. It’s an understandable reaction. For many, the pace of change can feel daunting, and the headlines don’t always provide clarity.
But we’ve been here before.
When personal computers entered the workplace decades ago, they too were seen as a threat. Many feared they would replace people altogether. But that didn’t happen. Computers didn’t eliminate jobs; they changed how people worked.
In fact, historical analysis shows that 60% of today’s occupations didn’t exist 80 years ago. Technology consistently reshapes the workforce, but it also creates entirely new categories of work that we could not have imagined before.
Today’s digital revolution is no different. AI and automation are not just about cost-cutting or replacing labour; they are about rethinking work, unlocking potential, and reshaping how value is created.
For leaders, the real question is not what do we lose? Instead, it’s what can we create?
Leadership today means guiding people through transformation, not shielding them from it. That starts by embracing technology with purpose: using it to remove friction from work, free up time for higher-value thinking, and build better, faster, more connected organisations.
But we must also bring our people with us.
That means investing in training, not just to upskill, but to build confidence and adaptability. It means rethinking roles and responsibilities to reflect the reality of the future, not the comfort of the past. And it means designing organisations that are flexible, empowering, and ready for the next step and upcoming transformation. Change can be unsettling. But done right, it can also be energising.
Leaders must not only adopt new tools; we must shape a new mindset. One that sees transformation not as something imposed on people, but something achieved with them. Because in the end, the strongest organisations won’t be those that automate the fastest. They will be the ones who help their people transform confidently, capably, and collectively.
Neil Russell, Head of People and Operations at Bangkok Silicon, brings over 30 years of leadership experience driving operational excellence and people strategy across diverse industries and global markets. He oversees Human Resources, Procurement, Legal, and IT Support delivering cohesive corporate services that power organizational growth and resilience. With a career spanning manufacturing, technology, and professional services, Neil has held senior regional and global roles, with deep on-the-ground experience across ASEAN markets. A Fellow of both CIPD and AHRI, he is widely recognized for aligning human capital strategy with business performance building agile, compliant, and high-impact operational frameworks that is sustainable and scalable with the needs of fast-growing enterprises. Neil’s pragmatic leadership and cross-functional acumen make him a key architect of sustainable growth and organizational transformation.
