Arise by INFINITAS CEO hailed Innovator of the Year at Asian Management Excellence Awards 2026

He transformed the organisation in such a way that people, process, and product innovations have reinforced one another.

Jakkrit Klinsmith, CEO of Arise by INFINITAS, was honoured as the Thailand Innovator of the Year - Technology at the Asian Management Excellence Awards 2026 for his people-centred approach that has redefined what sustainable digital innovation looks like in Thailand.

Under his leadership, Arise has undergone a transformative evolution across talent development, operational excellence, and national-scale digital innovation, with his work centred on building scalable and future-ready systems.

Jakkrit has also built a holistic talent development ecosystem that turns employees into continuous innovators. He has integrated 'Sphere’, an expert-led e-learning platform for a technical skills assessment tool, and ‘DevTrail’, a data-driven upskilling engine that personalises learning and raises the organisation's overall technical competency.

To strengthen engagement, he has launched ‘Aster’, a Web3-based tokenised platform that gamifies participation and recognition, fostering a culture of collaboration and knowledge-sharing. He has also institutionalised Communities of Practice, Tech Day, and Arise CONNEXT, whilst expanding the company’s public tech footprint through social media content series like The Code Radio and The Byte-sized Series.

Meanwhile, Jakkrit has also unified Arise’s operations through the Workflow Management System and Budget Management System. Both of these systems have built a transparent, artificial-intelligence-ready data foundation for the company.

He has also introduced a Generative AI Agent Framework across the entire SDLC, accelerating delivery and reducing manual bottlenecks. To democratise AI usage, he has also launched the AI Agent Marketplace and the secure LLM Sandbox, enabling employees to build their own AI tools, which have resulted in solutions like the Legal & Compliance Chatbot.

To ensure ethical and compliant deployment of Arise’s AI solutions, a Responsible AI & Governance Framework has been established for the company.

Through Jakkrit’s philosophy of “doing more with what we have,” Arise has also delivered national-scale digital products that serve millions, connect stakeholders, and power an open, inclusive ecosystem that advances Thailand’s digital economy. Amongst these products is Paotang app, which the CEO has transformed into a national digital gateway used by over 40 million people.

By pairing Paotang with TungNgern, Arise has connected citizens and merchants through a secure, nationwide digital payments ecosystem. This has enabled businesses of all sizes to accept diverse electronic payments. At the same time, the CEO has launched the Open API Ecosystem, which enables startups, SMEs, and enterprise partners to access the company’s core capabilities.

The Asian Management Excellence Awards celebrates the finest business leaders, innovators, and companies in Asia, recognising exceptional achievements in employee engagement programmes, diversity and inclusion projects, and health and wellness initiatives.

The Asian Management Excellence Awards is presented by Asian Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2027 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's employee engagements and management initiatives, please contact Danica Avila at [email protected].