How the APAC adventure began

Like Harry met Sally, William met Phil, our founder and CEO. The meetque sparked a conversation of what it meant to service international markets, and what the future could look like for Board of Innovation. 

It didn’t take long for William to begin his journey with us. And, after five months working as a Sr. Business Strategist, William moved to Singapore to start up Board of Innovation APAC. Flash forward two years, and BOI APAC has just opened up its very own office in Singapore.

Getting closer to our clients

With our growth came increasingly many projects out of the APAC region. We wanted to make sure we were close to the clients and able to grow our relations with these international partners. Seeing how small firms were being acquired drove our desire to make the move into APAC independently. 

A new regional hub

Understanding and appreciating the cultural nuances that enrich the work we deliver, we made it a priority to be closer to our partners in the East. One of the many trips to meet with our Asian based clients turned into a one-way street when William settled in Singapore as our first Asia-Pacific team member.

New talent to fire up our projects

Growing our company and presence in the region didn’t mean moving European employees to a new country. Real growth meant opening the entire company up to new perspectives and finding the best local talents to provide them. 

Hiring locally has brought new perspectives to the table and strengthened our position as international game-changers. We’ve put together a team that represents this idea. 

We’ve hired innovation consultants, business designers, and prototypers across the whole APAC region. With an eclectic mix of cultures, and people coming from India, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and China, our APAC team brings fresh new perspectives to our company culture as well as the projects we deliver. 

Remote-first, with an office culture

Our remote-first, hybrid way of working has made it easy for talents around the world to become part of Board of Innovation. With being remote-first, we remain laser-focused on building a great culture – a culture that feels like working from an office. Having regional hubs and physical offices where our teams can meet and work together is a core part of that strategy.

We recognize the external advantage and the internal gain that come from having offices for each of our key regions.

Launching our first workplace in Asia-Pacific is a company milestone, representing the unity of nationalities, backgrounds and perspectives, enriching our values, and the quality of the work we deliver.

APAC office week

Just like part of our culture is sustained by letting our employees work from anywhere, another part is acknowledging the importance of in-person events in a digital world, and making sure they stay alive. 

In this context, Office Week has become a company tradition. This bi-yearly event is held in all our regional hubs, where our regional teams come together in our offices, to experience a different kind of connection, beyond virtual meeting rooms. 

Opening up to partners

Knowing the power and value of cultural diversity, we are committed to having our culture positively impact the work we do with our global partners.

"A good culture is the requirement for commercial success. Not the other way around."

William De Vos, APAC Managing Director

We look forward to welcoming our partners and clients to our terrace on Keong Saik road, to enjoy a coffee or a Belgian beer, while discussing tomorrow’s products, services, and businesses, and how we can create them today.