‘I’ll give it my best shot’: incoming DBS CEO Tan Su Shan eyes growth in high ROE businesses

INCOMING DBS chief executive Tan Su Shan said she will focus on growing businesses that provide a high return on equity (ROE), when she takes over the helm at the lender from Mar 28, 2025.

Speaking at DBS’ fourth-quarter results briefing on Monday (Feb 10), Tan noted that she will stay focused on being humble, hungry and agile in her new role, especially amid geopolitical and technology risks ahead.

She said: “I want to be a CEO that is conscious of the macro movement – so risk aware – and the big trends are in the market, whether it’s technology or geopolitics, and bringing it to bear, to how DBS can optimise and be ahead of the curve.”

One key focus in the short term will be transformative technology, such as generative artificial intelligence (AI).

“(We will) continue to harness what new technology there is, and as costs come down it’ll be useful to create better customer experiences, and to release some capacity from the mundane jobs that we have to do today, to do more customer-facing roles,” she said.