“The next generation are incredibly intelligent because they've grown up with advanced technology"

This week, we’re focusing on what makes a good leader in tech, celebrating the art of being humble and learning from mistakes to drive innovation on business transformation.

Kumar Sundaram has spent his entire career refusing to stand still. After a grand total of 18 years at Anglo  Eastern, where he's spearheaded everything from leading the engineering team of LPG ships to installing Starlink across a fleet of vessels, his approach to leadership boils down to one simple philosophy: never stop being curious.  

"I'm eternally hungry for more, in terms of knowledge, in terms of pursuit of new things,  learning new things," Kumar explains. It's not just personal motivation either. This mindset has shaped how he builds and leads his IT teams across Anglo Eastern's 770-ship fleet.  

His journey from chief engineer to Senior Manager of Business Transformation illustrates exactly this point. Most people would have settled into a comfortable technical role, but Kumar kept pushing boundaries. When he left sailing, he didn't just move into IT - he taught himself to manage the software life cycle, built his own company,  failed spectacularly, learned from those failures, then eventually found his way back to maritime with a completely different skillset.