SINGAPORE \u2013 Hours spent playing computer games as a boy fuelled his curiosity about technology, eventually leading Chew Shou Zi to become TikTok\u2019s chief executive<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n In a speech to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) PhD graduates on Aug 1, the Singaporean said he built his career on this curiosity, and the belief that impact often means doing things differently from what everyone expects.<\/p>\n Chew, 43, who was born in Singapore in 1983<\/span><\/a>, said these ideas started early in life, with countless hours spent on a computer his father bought when he was a child.<\/p>\n He was speaking at the first of two ceremonies at which 575 graduates received doctorates. They are part of the largest batch of graduates in NTU\u2019s history, numbering over 14,000 who will graduate in 29 ceremonies in 2026.<\/p>\n Said Chew: \u201cI would love to tell you that I was using the computer to code some brilliant software and building the future, but the reality is I was playing computer games. A lot of them.\u201d<\/p>\n He told the graduates he later left his keyboard and Singapore to study economics at University College London and worked at investment bank Goldman Sachs. He then went to Harvard Business School for a master of business administration.<\/p>\n It was while he was in finance that he found himself watching a massive shift as major investments began pouring into innovative new ideas and tech start-ups, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOver time, that pull I felt towards technology when I was younger kept resurfacing, and that\u2019s the beautiful thing about genuine curiosity \u2013 it\u2019s incredibly resilient,\u201d he said. He followed this pull and left finance, moving into tech.<\/p>\n In 2015, he became chief financial officer of Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi. He later moved to ByteDance, TikTok\u2019s parent company, and has helmed TikTok since 2021.<\/p>\n Chew urged the graduates to keep their curiosity alive as artificial intelligence reshapes the workforce they will enter, like digital transformation did when he was launching his career.<\/p>\n TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi receiving a certificate of appreciation from NTU deputy president and provost professor Christian Wolfrum at the conferment ceremony on Aug 1.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n He noted that they were leaving school during a period of massive structural change.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see it every single day, and an unprecedented, big-picture innovation era.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a pivotal and exciting point in history \u2013 where change is not constant, but exponential and compounding.\u201d<\/p>\n In the face of this, they should actively seek out the unknown and apply their knowledge to the messy, ambiguous problems of the real world, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSeek out rooms where you are the least experienced person in them.<\/p>\n \u201cEmbrace uncertainty because that is where meaningful innovation happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Chew made international headlines in 2024 after appearing at a US congressional hearing focused on safety for children on social media platforms<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n He faced questions on TikTok\u2019s Chinese origins and was also asked if he was affiliated to the Communist Party of China (CPC). Then, he answered with a line which later went viral on social media: \u201cSenator, I am Singaporean<\/span><\/a>. No.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>
Massive change happening<\/h2>\n