WHEN Tan Aik Keong was 14, his father, Tan Ghee Hai, bought him a computer. The gift not only delighted Tan but also made him what he is today — the founder and chief executive officer of Agmo Holdings Bhd.
Agmo is a homegrown digital solutions and application development specialist, and since 2012, it has been digitalising customers' operations by developing their mobile and web applications.
Eventually, the company expanded its services to digital platform-based services and subscription, hosting, technical support and maintenance services.
Since its founding, the company has developed more than 100 mobile applications for clients across industries, including healthcare, logistics, oil and gas, automotive and financial services, as well as the government.
Tan said his father, who operated a driving school, was not a tech-savvy person.
"My father worked very hard to provide for the family. I always wanted to help my father and that inspired me to be an entrepreneur. He was my role model.
"As soon as I got my driving licence, I started helping my father by transporting his students to the driving school.
"My father bought me a computer as a gift. At that time, a computer that costs RM4,500 was considered very expensive. Some of his friends even teased him, '… you're so rich to buy such an expensive gift for your son?'"
But it was a gift that has paid off handsomely, even if Tan's father may not have known it at the time.
Agmo's initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed by 120.15 times, a testament to the company's track record and strong growth trajectory.
The company will be listed on the ACE Market tomorrow.
Tan, the youngest of three siblings, said he aimed to make the company one of the top digital solutions providers.
It plans to set up a training and development academy within 18 months of its listing.
The academy will not only groom and recruit new talent but also generate revenue for the company.
"The tech space today is very competitive. In the early 2010s, there were mobile apps, followed by blockchain in 2015 and now it is the Meta. Going into the market is easy but making it sustainable is the challenge.
"I have been organising workshops and training for information technology (IT) professionals and app startups regularly, and since we are in the industry, we can design the best training modules for our students, including Java script programming, blockchain, chatbot, mobile and web programming."
Tan is looking at expanding into the tech innovation hotspot of Singapore, where the company already has clients such as Doctor2u.my, which is a joint venture with Dr Raymond Choy, a medical practitioner based in Singapore's Changi Airport.
Agmo is also the developer of apps such as DOC2U, NextProperty, WorkGrowth HRMS and EasyLaw, and it has also developed apps for big-name clients such as Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Pos Malaysia Bhd, UMW Toyota Sdn Bhd and CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd.
In fact, Tan and EasyLaw's legal adviser Datuk Low Hann Yong had known each other since secondary school and had participated in a tech competition together.
Although the tech space is changing and evolving, challenges only fuel Tan's passion for technology.
A case in point is when scammers created fake websites to steal the data of a real company.
Tan reversed engineered the clone entity to understand the process of the hacker and countered it.
Tan also blogged about the scam to raise public awareness on the matter.
He said the digital landscape was redefining boundaries and customer expectations.
With blockchain wallets emerging, there will be sharing of education and health records as well as transferable data such as the type of cars that one has owned.
Tan graduated from Multimedia University (MMU) with a first class bachelor degree in electronic engineering in 2008, and has been an active alumni by giving career and motivational talks to MMU undergraduates in spite of his busy schedule.
Bursa will see a new star with Agmo appearing on the ACE Market tomorrow. Hopefully, it'll shine bright for years to come.
The writer was a journalist with the New Straits Times before joining a Fortune Global 500 real estate company. This article is a collaboration between the New Straits Times and Tradeview, the author of 'Once Upon A Time In Bursa'.
