My story since I moved to Jakarta

In 2010, I joined Kompas.com as Business Development Manager, and it didn't take long before I understood not just how the business worked, but how it could grow. Rather than keeping my focus narrow, I took a helicopter view and began working closely with the Director of Kompas.com to help bring Harian Kompas into the digital age. We started with Kompas Editor Edition for the iPad, streamlining the entire editorial-to-digital publishing workflow from 2011 onward. We then applied the same approach to Kontan for iPad.

Print newspaper layouts flowing into an iPad — the editorial-to-digital workflow we built starting in 2011.

From there, I saw another opportunity — KompasTV already had a website and a YouTube channel, so why not bring it to the living room as a native smart-TV app? We partnered with Sony Japan and made it happen, launching the KompasTV App for Sony TV. Around the same time, we explored building an eBook reader to rival Amazon's Kindle, holding discussions with Toshiba and other companies pursuing the same vision. I developed the workflow for it, but at the time, no one was positioned to take on Amazon and its Whispernet ecosystem.

A smart-TV app concept — broadcaster reborn as a streaming app on the living-room screen.

Gramedia Digital, and the company we had to invent

Then came the acquisition of Scoop, a Singaporean eMagazine and eBook platform, which we rebranded as Gramedia Digital — the closest thing we could build to a Kindle experience, just without the hardware. We were already in the Gramedia orbit at this point: Kompas.com had been helping manage Gramedia's eCommerce presence on Gramedia.com. When Gramedia reclaimed the domain, the eCommerce initiative was shelved. A year later, they asked Kompas.com to take it back.

Instead of simply picking up where we left off, I went to the Board of Commissioners with a bigger idea: build a fully independent digital entity. That conversation gave birth to Gramedia Digital Nusantara, or GDN. I assembled a strong technology and product team, evolved the Gramedia Digital app from its Scoop roots into the GDN platform, and took on the dual role of Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer.

Omni Channel, before Indonesia was ready for it

Under GDN, we built out eCommerce for Gramedia.com with a focus on the digital side of the business. One of my most forward-thinking initiatives was Pick Up in Store — buy online, collect at a physical branch. We called it Omni Channel. I drew up the full blueprint and ran a proof of concept at the Matraman store.

The hardest part of eCommerce, it turned out, wasn't the storefront or the Omni Channel concept itself — it was the software underneath. No one in Indonesia had done Omni Channel before, and our technology partner couldn't support real-time stock management. That single gap created friction across the entire ecosystem.

An online order flowing into a physical store for pickup — the Omni Channel blueprint, ahead of its market.

KGX, when third-party logistics wasn't enough

Logistics was the next gap. Relying entirely on third-party delivery was unreliable and unsustainable. I brought this to the Board of Commissioners and proposed consolidating all of KG Group's existing logistics operations under one roof to serve Gramedia.com. That proposal became KGX — KompasGramedia Expedition — the group's dedicated logistics arm.

Scattered delivery routes being consolidated into a single, dedicated logistics network.

Bhisma, and the pivot to B2B

As eCommerce matured — and proved how essential it was for Gramedia stores during COVID — it became clear the competitive landscape was too crowded for pure B2C to be the primary engine. That realization actually came before the pandemic. The real opportunity was B2B.

I went back to the Commissioners in 2018 with that vision, and the result was Bhisma — an eCommerce enabler built on everything we had already created: the website, the eCommerce platform, the logistics, and the Omni Channel infrastructure. (Worth noting: back in 2011 we had explored acquiring aCommerce, a regional eCommerce enabler, but that deal never materialized — which made what we ended up building organically all the more meaningful.)

Kompas.ID, and the part that taught me the most

In mid-2017, while still engaged with Gramedia.com, I was approached by the former Editor-in-Chief of Harian Kompas to help take their newspaper digital. Rather than integrating with Kompas.com, they had chosen to build something entirely their own: Kompas.ID. That decision made the challenge far greater — and the experience far more rewarding.

This chapter gave me the most growth, not because of the technology, but because of the human side of it. I had to build a new product team from scratch, earn the trust of people who had spent their careers in print journalism, and persuade them to embrace a digital-first mindset. I also had to educate HR on what a product team actually does — because without that understanding, it would be impossible for them to design the right development programs for the editorial team.

Digital transformation doesn't start with technology. It starts with people.

A newsroom in transition — printers' tools and stacks of newsprint on one side, monitors and a product team's desk on the other.

Kompas.ID celebrates nine years this June. The platform is established, the audience is loyal, and the foundation is solid.

What's next

The next chapter is already underway. Working from the holding side now, with a capable team around me, I'm focused on what the media landscape can become. The groundwork has been laid — and I'm confident in what we'll build next.

Wish us luck.