I co-founded Blendata a decade ago with a simple yet powerful belief: As Thai entrepreneurs, we can create software that compete globally.
In those days, while cloud technology was in its infancy, and most enterprises were still focused on hardware and servers, we already knew the future lay in the data they were sitting on. We predicted that data would become the backbone of business infrastructure, not just for upselling or customer insights, but to create entirely new products and services.
I saw the gap and convinced my employer, G-Able, to let us set up a small team to build a big data platform that could help businesses unlock the power of their data. I had always known I wanted to build my own company, and working at G-Able gave me the chance to learn and prove what was possible when we set out with Blendata in 2015.
Standing on our own two feet
Our first big break came in 2017, when a telecommunication company wanted to conduct root cause analysis on a sizeable group of their customers—we’re talking 1,000 million transactions a day. While other vendors required massive infrastructure to handle their data, we gave them a proof of concept in just two weeks, running on nothing more than a MacBook Pro. Because we were the only vendor who could do this, we won the project, proving that we could solve real problems at a fraction of the cost.
We continued to build Blendata step by step, keeping it lean (I was the developer, salesperson, and implementer), reinvesting profits in our people. We proved that the business could stand on its own; it was sustainable, generating revenue, and serving customers well.
When Blendata was spun off as an independent company in 2021, and I became the CEO, it was more of a formality, since we’ve been ticking the boxes of a standalone company from long before. Even as we scaled our business, the goal remained the same: to become a global vendor, competing on the same landscape as the big players.
What I’d tell my younger self
Along the way, I’ve learned many lessons. One of the biggest is the importance of listening more and to trust the people who were trying to help. I initially hesitated to take advice from others, but I have since learned to recognize that they are right.
If I could go back, I would tell my younger self to move faster and be more aggressive in pursuing opportunities, but at the same time, be more human. As a manager, I was very logical and focused on outcomes, I used to pride myself in making tough decisions, even if it meant letting people go, but I’ve realized that you can achieve just as much, if not more, by leading with empathy and understanding.
Fishing in the blue ocean
As we look to the next five years, the landscape is shifting rapidly. AI and big data are no longer just tools—they’re becoming fundamental to the way businesses operate. The raw material for AI is data, and enterprises that harness their data properly will be at the forefront.
In line with this vision, we made a strategic investment in Opsta. We believe the future will be more flexible, with big data accessible from anywhere. The concept of hybrid infrastructure—where users can execute queries seamlessly across on-premise and cloud environments—is crucial. In this tech landscape, mastering cloud-native Kubernetes is essential, yet very few can do it well.
Opsta has proven itself as a leader in this area and has already established a strong reputation for serving large enterprise customers. This investment isn’t just a financial decision; it’s about mutual growth. We can leverage Opsta’s knowledge and technology to accelerate our roadmap and build more efficient solutions, while Opsta can tap into our experience in organizational management and expertise in big data. Together, we envision creating a blue ocean in this space, opening up new opportunities that neither of us could achieve alone. The best is yet to be.