Zia Zaman

(Former) General Manager, Corporate Business Development for Asia

Zia Zaman is General Manager, Corporate Business Development for Asia at Microsoft, where he leads inorganic growth, strategic partnerships, and venture investing across the region. He oversees multi country teams working with leading technology firms, sovereign entities, and regulators to shape Microsoft’s long term position in AI, cloud, modern work, and security ecosystems across Asia. His remit spans platform strategy, capital allocation, and complex cross border partnerships, with a particular focus on AI commercialization, and national digital capability.

Prior to Microsoft, Zia has held senior leadership roles at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and scale. He was Chief Innovation Officer for MetLife Asia and CEO of LumenLab, where he built and ran one of Asia’s most influential corporate innovation platforms, delivering commercially deployed solutions in fintech, digital health, and inclusion across multiple markets. Earlier, he served as Chief Strategy Officer of Singtel Group Enterprise, overseeing corporate strategy, cloud and digital portfolios, and innovation investments; and as Chief Strategy Officer of LG Electronics North America.

Zia has deep experience in M&A, venture investing, and growth strategy. He was previously Chief Marketing Officer of FAST, helping position the company as a category leader in enterprise search prior to its USD 1.2B acquisition by Microsoft. Earlier in his career, he led strategy consulting engagements at Gartner, and was part of the M&A team at Sun Microsystems, where he led or co led multiple acquisitions and minority investments. He began his career in TMT strategy consulting.

Alongside his executive roles, Zia has extensive board and public sector governance experience. He currently serves as a Board Member of Singapore’s National Environment Agency, and previously spent six years on the Board of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, contributing to policy and governance at the intersection of technology, infrastructure, and sustainability.

Zia is a frequent advisor and speaker on AI, innovation, economic transformation, and inclusion, and has addressed global forums including WEF Davos, Milken Institute, IIF, UN Women, and InsurTech Connect. He is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s First Mover Fellowship and writes on strategy, innovation, and the economic implications of AI.

He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a BS in Electrical Engineering, and an MS in Operations Research from MIT. He is based in Singapore.