Rey Untal, the former head of industry group IBPAP, has been named president and CEO of homegrown software company Pointwest.
Pointwest, a 100% Filipino-owned global IT solutions and services company, announced the appointment of Untal on Wednesday, Oct. 27, highlighting his expertise in IT consulting and outsourcing over the 30 years in companies like Accenture, Nestle, Cargill and ICTSI.
Untal will be filling the big shoes left by industry stalwart and Pointwest founder Beng Coronel, who has moved to a senior advisor role at the company.
In his previous post as president and CEO of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), Untal advocated for the industry and became an instrumental voice in pushing for its continued growth amid challenges pre-pandemic and during the current health crisis, including maintaining the country’s competitiveness in the global landscape.
He also collaborated closely with industry leaders, stakeholders, and the public sector in pushing for policies beneficial to the sector.
Reflecting on his stint as the head of IBPAP, Untal said: “I’m truly humbled for this rare and unique opportunity to be of service to this industry… a sector that has profoundly and positively impacted the lives of so many Filipinos.”
While the decision to step down from IBPAP was difficult, he added that “every few years in this association role, you need to inject fresh change to give the organization an opportunity to bring in another leader who will reassess and help define where we want to bring the industry. It was not a question of whether I was going to step down at some point, but it was really about discerning the right time.”
Just before leaving the industry group, Untal said he weighed his options carefully and considered either going back to the mainstream or explore an academe post.
While teaching will continue to “set a fire” in his heart and is something that Untal said he will eventually pursue, the option to return to the industry came with the perfect opportunity.
“The organization has to espouse much of the digital transformation that we’d been discussing at length,” Untal said. “Second, it has to be involved with a sub-sector or focusing on market segments that will really thrive in the medium to longer term, and the one that comes to mind is healthcare, if not as the prime offering, as one of its key offerings.”
He said Pointwest fits the bill. “It is a 100% Filipino company that made a breakthrough and has gone truly global from the get-go. They’re delivering end-to-end IT & BPO services to a wide range of clients including a very impressive list of Fortune 500 companies in this increasingly digital and innovative world. I was excited,” Untal said.
In Pointwest, Untal said he hopes to be part of the journey that will further establish the company as the template of what a “true Pinoy pure play IT-BPM company” will look like — a Filipino organization delivering digitally-enabled services and solutions globally, heavily leveraging the unique Filipino brand of service.
“The organizations which will be viewed as having successfully navigated the pivot in the reimagined world are those that will be able to scale up quickly into everything digital,” Untal said.
“Pointwest is nimble enough to continually redefine how business is done and has put together a suite of offerings and capabilities that support this digital thrust. We’re not just a service-only organization but we’re also into digitally-enabled services and developing platforms and products that will help accelerate the necessary transformation of companies that we will be engaging with.”
In its statement, Pointwest expressed excitement for Untal’s leadership, describing it as “promising times” for the company.
“His deep understanding and vast network in the industry, including his perspective on the global marketplace, will enable him to steer Pointwest towards greater heights and continue to uplift the Filipino talent in the global IT-BPM landscape,” the company said.
