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In this episode of The Bank Tellers, Pimolpa Simaroj, Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank’s Bangkok branch, shares her remarkable journey through Thailand’s financial ecosystem, from her early days as a management trainee to leading one of the most established global banks in the region.

Filmed live at Money20/20 Asia 2025, host Zach Anderson Pettet dives into Pimolpa’s unique perspective on the evolution of Thailand’s banking sector, Deutsche Bank’s approach to corporate innovation, and how the institution partners with fintechs to scale impact across borders. They also discuss the role of AI in streamlining operations and how true leadership starts by walking the talk.

Deutsche Bank's Unique Position in Thailand

After 47 years in Thailand, Deutsche Bank has carved out a specific niche that complements rather than competes with local banks. They focus primarily on corporate banking, serving large conglomerates and international clients. Their cross-border expertise leverages a global footprint to facilitate international transactions, adding value in areas where local banks may have limitations.

As Pimolpa explains: "We don't want to compete with Thai banks... We actually add value for something they don't have." This collaborative philosophy represents a shift from pure competition to strategic partnership: "The world has changed, you don't want to compete until you die... You need scale and you need to keep the cost down."

Fintech Partnerships: Playing to Strengths

Rather than viewing fintech companies as competition, Deutsche Bank embraces partnerships that leverage complementary strengths. While fintechs excel at front-end development, UX design, and fast onboarding processes, Deutsche Bank provides global footprint, liquidity management, and currency risk expertise.

A recent example is their partnership with DataMesh, a merchant solution that creates an orchestration layer to convert payment types across currencies, supporting e-commerce businesses globally. This partnership model allows both entities to focus on what they do best while creating more comprehensive solutions for clients.

AI Implementation: Enhancing Human Expertise

Deutsche Bank's approach to AI focuses on augmenting rather than replacing human judgment. They implement AI in credit scoring systems to analyse industry and client information, in fraud protection to identify suspicious transaction patterns, and in operational processes to improve efficiency.

The key insight is that AI serves as a tool that gives relationship managers "superpowers" while humans maintain responsibility for final decisions. As Pimolpa notes, these systems help "save a lot of time" and enable "more real-time analysis," freeing humans to focus on higher-value activities.

Leadership Philosophy: Walk the Talk

When asked to describe her leadership style in three words, Pimolpa chose "walk the talk" – emphasising that actions speak louder than words. "No matter what you communicate to your team, if you don't show them by leading by example, they're not going to trust you." This authentic approach to leadership creates trust and demonstrates values rather than simply stating them. It's about showing who you are through your actions before explaining theories or concepts.

Advice for Aspiring Banking Executives

For young professionals looking to build successful careers in banking, Pimolpa encourages stepping outside your comfort zone and prioritising learning over salary in the early career stages: "When you're junior, it doesn't matter how much money you make... Your learning curve is the most important."

She also advocates embracing all tasks, even administrative ones, as valuable learning opportunities. Most importantly, she emphasises not fearing failure: "Even if you fail, you know you fail. So you learn something... The failure you have gives you the most lesson compared to the success."

The Value of Continuous Learning

Throughout the conversation, Pimolpa emphasised the importance of staying curious and relevant: "It doesn't matter your business or yourself, but how to stay relevant, how to keep yourself having value to the industry, the market, you have to keep learning. It doesn't matter how old you are."

She maintains her own knowledge by attending industry events and exploring emerging technologies, recognising that learning is a lifelong journey that extends beyond one's immediate job responsibilities.

As banking continues to evolve with technology and changing customer expectations, Pimolpa's journey illustrates how embracing change, focusing on strengths, and maintaining a learning mindset can lead to sustained success in the financial industry. The conversation highlights that in today's interconnected financial ecosystem, collaboration often yields better results than pure competition, and that human judgment remains essential even as technology advances.

Guest:
Pimolpa Simaroj, Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank

Host:
Zach Anderson Pettet, VP, Fintech Strategy at Money20/20