Optimising Assets to Improve Lives: How UEM Edgenta Is Driving Digital and Sustainable Transformation Across Nations

As UEM Edgenta accelerates its digital transformation across healthcare, infrastructure, and property and facilities management, the organisation is redefining how intelligent asset management delivers value to nations, industries, and communities. With data, automation, and AI at the core of its operating model, the organisation is moving beyond traditional service delivery to become a strategic digital partner to its clients. In this interview, Chua Yong Howe, Chief Digital Officer of UEM Edgenta, shares how the organisation is embedding technology into its operations, the sectors seeing the biggest impact, and the innovations shaping the next era of sustainable and resilient assets.

Chua Yong Howe
CDO of UEM Edgenta

Q1. What is UEM Edgenta's overarching digitalisation vision across healthcare, infrastructure, and property management — and how are you embedding technology into your client value proposition, particularly in areas like safety, efficiency, and sustainability?

Chua:

  • Our digitalisation vision is grounded in enabling intelligent asset management across all our sectors from hospitals to highways. We're embedding technology not just to modernise operations, but to create smarter, safer, and more sustainable environments.
  • With platforms like Asseto, we leverage AI, IoT, and cloud analytics to optimise energy use, enhance predictive maintenance, and reduce downtime — delivering measurable value in cost savings and carbon reductions. In doing so, we move from being a service provider to becoming a value-generating digital partner.

Q2. As you scale digital across your verticals, where do you see the greatest opportunities to unlock new value and is the long-term ambition to evolve into a fully tech-enabled operator or position yourselves as a digital services partner to your clients?

Chua:

  • The real value lies in data-driven outcomes. As we scale, our ambition is to be both a tech-enabled operator and a digital services partner. Operationally, we use digital twins, smart sensors, and real-time dashboards to optimise building performance.
  • Commercially, we advise clients on how to reinvest OPEX savings into greener, smarter upgrades. This positions us not only as a service provider but also a co-investor in their sustainability journey. It's not tech for tech's sake, it's tech that drives measurable returns.

Q3. Healthcare Support:
How are you leveraging digital technologies in non-clinical hospital services across 250+ facilities, and what wins have you seen with automation, predictive maintenance, or IoT so far?

Chua:

  • In healthcare, uptime and hygiene are non-negotiable. We use automation and IoT for smarter environmental monitoring, predictive equipment servicing, and real-time resource tracking. In some hospitals, we've reduced downtime of critical systems by up to 30% using smart alerts and AI-driven dispatch.
  • Our tech also ensures energy and water usage is optimised — crucial for hospitals that operate 24/7. This allows clinical teams to focus on care, while we ensure the environment supports their work efficiently and safely.

Q4. Property & Facility Solutions:
In managing energy efficiency across GBI-rated buildings, what role does data play — and are you integrating real-time monitoring or building automation to optimise operations?

Chua:

  • Data is everything. Through Asseto, our clients get real-time energy dashboards, AI-powered alerts, and predictive analytics. Instead of fixed maintenance schedules, we now adopt condition-based servicing — only maintaining equipment when the data tells us to.
  • In one government building we supported reduced energy consumption by nearly 50% through this approach. Building automation, paired with benchmarking and visualisation, empowers facility managers to manage resources precisely, reduce waste, and extend asset life, all while aligning with ESG goals.

Q5. Infrastructure Services:
With over 9,000 KM of roads under your care, how is digital transformation changing the way you manage maintenance, incident response, and asset visibility? Are drones, sensors, or smart mobility systems part of your roadmap?

Chua:

  • Yes, absolutely. Our roads are becoming smart corridors. We're deploying drones for visual inspections, AI for pothole detection, and IoT sensors for monitoring structural health.
  • Our command centres integrate live data from patrol teams and road assets, enabling faster incident response and preventive maintenance. Over time, we're layering this with predictive algorithms to forecast wear and tear — improving safety while reducing lifecycle costs. The future of infrastructure is connected, proactive, and increasingly autonomous.

Q6. Asset Consultancy (Opus Consultants):
In delivering over RM100 billion worth of infrastructure projects, how has digital been integrated into project design, execution, or compliance — and how are you using data to reduce delivery risks?

Chua:

  • Digital has transformed how we deliver projects. With Opus, we're embedding BIM (Building Information Modelling), GIS, and real-time data capture from day one. We run simulations before the first brick is laid, reducing rework and overruns.
  • Compliance reporting is now digital with dashboards flagging variances instantly. By integrating lifecycle costing models, we advise clients on long-term trade-offs, not just upfront CAPEX. That shifts us from being consultants to strategic partners.

Q7. Technology Solutions:
Managing 35,000 assets across 20 sites requires scale — what platforms or architecture are enabling this, and what challenges have you faced in driving adoption of these tools among internal teams and clients?

Chua:

  • We've invested in a cloud-native, modular architecture anchored by Asseto, which unifies IoT, AI, and mobile work order systems. It allows us to manage assets in real-time, across geographies and asset classes.
  • Adoption, however, isn't just a tech issue; it's a people issue. Our biggest challenge was shifting mindsets — helping users see tech as an enabler, not a threat. We tackled this with micro-learning, sandbox environments, and quick-win pilots that built internal momentum.

Q8. What are your main digital bottlenecks — legacy infrastructure, fragmented systems, talent gaps, or resistance to change?

Chua:

  • CIt's a mix. Legacy systems slow down integration. In some facilities, we're digitising from scratch. Talent remains a bottleneck, particularly in fields like AI ops and data engineering. But the most underrated challenge is resistance to change.
  • Many still see maintenance as a cost centre, not an area for transformation. That's where leadership, storytelling, and proof points matter — once clients see RM500K in savings or a 30% energy reduction, the resistance fades.

Q9. With operations in multiple countries, how do you address data sovereignty and compliance issues across borders?

Chua:

  • Asseto is built with data sovereignty and cross-border compliance in mind. We offer a hybrid deployment model, while the application layer is hosted securely on the cloud, customer data can be stored locally within the respective country's cloud or data centre to meet jurisdictional requirements. Where necessary and commercially viable, Asseto can also be fully deployed within a public cloud infrastructure in-country, ensuring adherence to local regulations while maintaining performance and scalability.

Q10. Are there integration challenges when aligning digital solutions across different verticals and geographies?

Chua:

  • Yes, especially when legacy systems vary. A highway in the Middle East and a hospital in Malaysia operate on different stacks. Our solution is interoperability — building APIs and middleware that allow systems to talk.
  • Tech alignment alone isn't enough. We also harmonise processes, data definitions, and user journeys across regions. It's about creating a federated model where each unit has autonomy, but benefits from shared intelligence and tools.

Q11. What's the next wave of technology UEM Edgenta is planning to adopt — such as AI, digital twins, or autonomous systems — and how do you see these innovations differentiating the company in the next 3 to 5 years?

Chua:

  • We're already piloting digital twins for building performance simulation, and AI copilots for asset diagnostics. Over the next 3–5 years, expect deeper use of computer vision for inspections, autonomous drones, and generative AI for facility planning.
  • These tools won't just make us faster; they'll make us smarter. Our differentiation will come from how well we integrate tech with operations to deliver business outcomes: energy savings, faster compliance, and happier end users.

Q12. What's your end goal: operational efficiency, predictive capability, monetisation, or all of the above?

Chua:

  • All of the above, but in sequence. We start with operational efficiency to build trust. Then, we move into predictive insights to reduce risk. Once we've achieved maturity, we look at data monetisation — helping clients benchmark performance, drive ESG reporting, or even participate in carbon trading.
  • Ultimately, digital is not the goal. Outcomes are. If we can deliver safer roads, greener hospitals, and more resilientcities, then we've done our job.

UEM Edgenta's digital journey reflects a clear ambition: to optimise assets in ways that genuinely improve lives. By embedding AI, automation, and real-time intelligence across its operations, the organisation is delivering smarter solutions that strengthen safety, sustainability, and long-term value. As Chua Yong highlights, digitalisation is not just a technical upgrade, it's how UEM Edgenta fulfils its mission to create better opportunities for clients and communities. With continued investment in next-generation technologies, the organisation is shaping a more resilient and future-ready asset ecosystem.

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