David Santoso: Shaping the future of transportation with breakthrough technologies
David Santoso, President Director, PT TEKNOLOGI KARYA DIGITAL NUSA
It is never too late to redirect your mind to the pursuit of passion. After pursuing a career in Fintech and transportation industry for a long span of 23 years, David Santoso, the President Director of PT TEKNOLOGI KARYA DIGITAL NUSA Tbk. (PT TKDN Tbk.), dared respond to his inner call and changed his course to a completely new path of entrepreneurship and that too at the peak of his burgeoning career in finance.
Initially, he worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and, thereafter, he was appointed as the Director and Commissary at Rajawali Corpora Group companies, then as CFO of the Express Group, Paypro, Kaspro, and Digi Asia’s Electronic Money Platform, and CEO of TRON Indonesia and finally a member of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) Asia Pacific Forum and ITS World Community in Indonesia, as Vice President of Institutional Development & Data Management. As a finance professional, David had an illustrious career full of striking achievements.
In more than two decades of his service life, he had to manage diverse roles, which helped him to gain a wide spectrum of knowledge and experience of different market conditions. After delving deeper, David could figure out major potholes in the transportation industry that failed to meet the demand of a technology-oriented market. Thus, lured by a new sense of purpose, David decided to relinquish the secure life of a finance professional and set off a new journey of entrepreneurship, where he could explore, revamp and renovate the transportation industry. This fueled the foundation of his company PT TEKNOLOGI KARYA DIGITAL NUSA Tbk. (PT TKDN Tbk.) in 2011, where the entrepreneur intends to empower the transportation industry with information technology management and innovation to keep pace with the age of digitization.
PT TKDN Tbk. : Leading edge solution in transportation
David’s sole objective behind the formation of his company PT TKDN Tbk. was to bridge the gap between the public transportation industry and IT companies running the transportation business. As a member of ORGANDA (Land Transportation Organization Indonesia), David had the opportunity to digitize the transportation industry, especially public transport in Indonesia. The company mainly focuses on modernizing services through customized solutions and applications. The state-of-art technology of digitizing routes using the dynamic routing method was one of the award-winning solutions incorporated by PT TKDN Tbk. that earned the approval of the Municipal Government of Bekasi. The unique algorithm that can reduce the timing of your transportation was another unique innovation in this domain. With this technology, drivers can use smartphones to follow the path set by the passengers, which could reduce the total time of travel. With virtual stops, passengers can wait at the location specified by them and avail of the first pickup without waiting.
Under the proficient guidance of its President Director, Mr. David Santoso, PT TKDN Tbk. is committed to providing value-added services to its clients by utilizing the most advanced technology that facilitates every discerning need of its clients. TKDN Advance Mobility or TAM Fleet uses IoT that alleviates the risk of traffic accidents. TAM Fleet with its AI-based ultra-modern technology works as sensors in monitoring drivers, which guarantees on-road security and safety of drivers, vehicle fleet, and even passengers. Among its topnotch technology-enabled devices, PT TKDN Tbk. introduces Driver Safety Monitoring (DSM) which can analyze driver’s behavior during the fleet, the Blind Spot Detection device with its 3D AI camera can detect the presence of pedestrians and vehicles around the fleet with an accuracy of up to 95% to minimize traffic accidents.
The Advance Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and Indicator R-Watch can even provide an early warning of any violation or potential head-on collision. Vehicle tracking and security devices that use a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) from TAM Fleet are also able to track and monitor the position and status of vehicles in real time. Each of these devices is integrated into a Transit Management solution and is equipped with the latest IoT technology. The cutting-edge digital solutions of the company are fully equipped to give enough flexibility to the customers to manage all aspects of the operational transportation system.
Defying challenges
When life is pulling us back with challenges, it only means that it is getting ready to launch us forward to something better and bigger. However, it is our way of looking at things around us that makes all the difference. Transcending to a life of entrepreneurship was not an easy task for David. The biggest challenge for him was to place the right man in the right place where the latter can relate to the company’s mission and vision and work towards the goal without any objective differences. Nevertheless, being an impassioned entrepreneur, David could win over every difficulty with ease. How to react to changing circumstances? David replies in his own words, “I believe when our feelings are good emotionally, we’re adaptable, flexible, and able to handle any challenges.” It is with his indefeasible faith in himself, clear intentions, and steadfast nature that he turned every obstacle into modest steps of opportunities.
Essence of good leadership
It is essentially the decision-making abilities, deep insight, self-awareness, and transparency of the entrepreneur that forms the basis of strong leadership. Without values, leadership has no real authenticity. For David, consistency and self-confidence are the major determinants of a successful entrepreneurship. A leader to the core, he induces strong values and a culture manifesto that he summarizes into one word in Bahasa Indonesia, ‘DJITU’. ‘D’ stands for Discipline to maintain work rhythm and success, ‘J’ for Jujur in Bahasa Indonesia or Honesty that motivates one to work with all integrity of purpose, ‘I’ stands for Innovativeness that urges one to provide the best solutions for different problems, ‘T’ for Tanggung Jawab in Bahasa Indonesia or Responsibility that compels them to take charge of their success and failures, and finally ‘U’ for Ulet In Bahasa Indonesia or Tenacious and this mindset lends strength and agility to the workforce and keeps up the spirit of competition.
Mission and Vision
The catchy tagline of the company encapsulates the ultimate mission and vision of its entrepreneur. PT TKDN Tbk’s brand slogan “Empowering Management through Technology” clearly conveys the company’s objective of providing high-tech solutions to facilitate smooth and safe transportation. David envisions PT TKDN Tbk. as championing the best technology in transportation that could undertake a hassle-free and secure mobility.
At present, PT TKDN Tbk. is catering more than 300 clients worldwide including the honorable Ministry of Transportation Of The Republic Of Indonesia, DKI Jakarta Provincial Government, MooVita Pte, Ltd., PT Mobil Anak Bangsa Indonesia, PT Adiputro Wirasejati, PT Mekar Armada Jaya, PT Tentrem Sejahtera Karoseri and many more.
Spotlights for future
Looking forward to the upcoming days, David set high expectation of his company becoming one of the frontline organizations incorporating the most advanced technology in the transportation industry. In the words of the entrepreneur, “I believe that by focusing on innovation, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency we can create an organization that sets the standard for excellence.”
While sharing his piece of mind, David advises young business aspirants to act patiently and be flexible while taking into consideration volatile market conditions like the economic recession. His overwhelming words of inspiration go a long way to embolden the spirit of true leadership, “We have to be motivated to work harder. Focus on building a brand rather than making a profit because if our brand is strong, others will follow. We also have to improve our character, build independence and become people who can be trusted because there will be no place for those who cannot be trusted.”