The Business of Multipliers — The CEO of StarHub on embracing expectations, adversity, and a fast-tracked ascendency

"Gosh, if I could dream and do one thing, it would be to be a rock star," Nikhil Eapen, CEO of StarHub, muses, laughing slightly when I asked what he would do with his life if success were guaranteed. "I'll tell you why: sometimes, on the way to work, we listen to music, and it affects us on such a visceral level. It makes us feel happy; it makes us think of our loved ones — it's powerful. Music touches us intellectually and deeply at a visceral level."

Yet, ever the realist, Nikhil acknowledges the complexities of his dream. "The reality, though, is that to be a successful musician with real, scalable impact, you need resilience, learning agility, and, of course, talent. And while I might have a knack for the air guitar, I definitely lack the talent to make it as a rock star," he offers with a laugh. 

I'm speaking with Nikhil on a Friday morning at StarHub's newly renovated headquarters at StarHub Green in Ubi as part of my exploration into a CEO's 'why'. The space is bright, with windows lining the perimeter that let a steady stream of morning rays in. I observe Nikhil sitting in one corner, hunched over his laptop, and I wonder if this highly public presence amongst his employees were a feature or a convenience—a question I would have answered in the course of my conversation with the 51-year-old. 

Growing up at intersections 

As a child, Nikhil's upbringing was a mosaic of cultures with origins on the vibrant shores of Kerala. "On my mother's side, I'm third generation. Like most people my age, my grandparents came from what the Americans call the 'old country' — in our case, Kerala in India," he shares. His grandfather, an electrical engineer, journeyed from university directly to Batu Pahat in the late 1920s, managing the power station through the turbulent years of Japanese occupation.

By the time his parents settled in Singapore, they embodied the post-colonial narrative of upward mobility, education, and resilience. "My parents' marriage was arranged within our community — they were Syrian Christian Orthodox from Kerala, which is a small community," he recalls, grounding his own story within a close-knit diaspora where tradition and modernity often collide. His father, a corporate executive who later became a CEO, carried a legacy of service from his own father, a military man who fought in World War II. 

"My grandparents and others from that era often compared within the community," Nikhil offers when asked about what his childhood was like growing up. "People did reasonably well because they started from a good place — education was generally valued — but there was always this subtle comparison." 

A Childhood on the move

Born in Singapore but raised across Malaysia, Indonesia, and then boarding school in England, Nikhil's childhood was a constant shuffle between cultures, each move writing a new chapter in his young life. 

"I left home at 15 for boarding school, but I had a very happy childhood," he reflects, with nostalgia that belies the complexities of growing up between worlds. His parents, loving yet firm, instilled in him expectations that weren't explicitly voiced but were ever-present. "They raised us with strong values and high expectations, but they didn't micromanage. It was understood, almost unspoken, that you were expected to achieve and create something on top of what your parents had given you."

This unspoken mandate, asserts Nikhil almost too factually, wasn't unique to his household — it was woven into the very fabric of his community. "There was always this subtle comparison. It wasn't necessarily competitive, but the expectations were there, almost omnipresent." The notion of building upon the past, of taking inherited legacies and reshaping them into something new, was, for him, less of a burden and more of a silent motivator that propels the young boy forward.

Navigating cultural expectations is something Nikhil has been familiar with since childhood, a balancing act he continues today with his own family. His wife, a Canadian Chinese with roots in Hong Kong, represents a distinct departure from the traditional confines of his upbringing. Raised in Vancouver after her parents moved from Hong Kong in the '70s, she excelled in school and became an investment banker — much like Nikhil himself. They met in New York at Salomon Brothers, their professional paths crossing in one of the world's most intense financial hubs.

When it comes to raising their children, they have consciously blended their divergent backgrounds, cultivating an environment that values independence while maintaining a quiet undercurrent of high expectations — much like how it was for him as a child. "We don't force our kids when it comes to schoolwork, but there are high expectations." 

Sports became a cornerstone of their parenting philosophy, introduced to their children almost as soon as they could walk. "They all started swimming at six months old, then moved on to running, ice hockey, skiing — you name it. They're all good athletes, and I think sports is a great thing for growing up because it teaches you about failure and success." Nikhil tells me that he views sports as a microcosm of life's broader lessons. "In sports, you learn agility by necessity because you face failure. Unless you're exceptionally talented, you're not going to win all the time." 

This approach reflects his own upbringing — emphasising personal bests and resilience without the weight of explicit demands. "We don't want to burden them with expectations, but I think they feel it a little," he shares almost ruefully, "that sense of taking what they've been given and doing something meaningful with it."

Embracing expectations and adversity

For Nikhil, personal growth came not just from sports or childhood values but from pivotal experiences that pushed him beyond the familiar comfort of his community. One such defining moment was conscription. His national service in Singapore's Naval Diving Unit became a defining period, particularly given his background — raised abroad, with an English accent that disappeared almost overnight amidst the regimentation and camaraderie of military life. "National service gives you that extra attention — it might sound negative, but it makes you stronger. More push-ups, more jumping jacks, more challenges that build resilience."

The intensity of those days, especially within the elite Naval Diving Unit, moulded his resilience, teaching him to thrive in high-pressure environments. "I was in the fifth batch of the Naval Diving Unit, which I consider, perhaps a little biassed, to be the absolute best unit in Singapore. They push you the hardest, and the camaraderie is unmatched," he recalls with a mix of pride and humility.

Still, nothing tested his resolve quite like the sudden loss of his father at 24. "That sense of duty and expectation skyrockets. It's like it goes from one to four instantly. You want to make your father proud, and that internal sense of drive gets amplified," he shares, his voice tinged with the weight of that pivotal loss. This relentless drive carried over into his career, first in the gruelling world of investment banking, where long hours and relentless pressure became a crucible for honing his analytical and leadership skills.

A surprising ascendancy

Unlike the typical months, sometimes years-long search for a chief executive, Nikhil's appointment as CEO of StarHub in 2021 was both sudden and serendipitous. In the years leading up to 2020, StarHub — and indeed the entire telecommunications sector in Singapore — was already grappling with formidable challenges that threatened to upend the industry's status quo. 

The once-reliable revenue streams from traditional services like voice calls and SMS were steadily eroding, cannibalised by the rise of over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as WhatsApp and Skype. Then, consumers, empowered by smartphones and high-speed internet, began to sidestep conventional telco offerings, leaving companies like StarHub scrambling to adapt.

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Competition also intensified with the entry of new players like TPG Telecom, which eyed Singapore's saturated market with disruptive ambitions. Their arrival signalled a paradigm shift that ignited price wars and squeezed profit margins. Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) further fragmented the landscape, offering niche services and competitive pricing that appealed to a growing segment of cost-conscious consumers.

StarHub's struggles weren't confined to mobile services. Once a cornerstone of its business, the pay-TV segment faced existential threats from streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The cord-cutting phenomenon gained momentum as viewers flocked to on-demand, internet-based content, rendering traditional cable subscriptions less appealing. 

While widely panned as a civilisation's great equaliser, technological advancements presented a double-edged sword. The 4G rollout and the impending transition to 5G required hefty capital investments. Balancing the need for infrastructure upgrades with the imperative to maintain profitability became a tightrope walk. Regulatory pressures added another layer of complexity as the government pushed for greater competition and innovation within the sector.

Amidst this maelstrom, internal pressures within StarHub began to mount. 

In 2018, the company announced a significant restructuring plan, aiming to reduce its workforce by around 300 employees — a move that underscored the severity of the challenges at hand. The cost-cutting measures were indicative of a broader industry trend, as telcos sought to streamline operations in the face of shrinking revenues.

Shaking things up

But StarHub wasn't alone in this upheaval. Singtel, the industry giant, faced its own set of woes, reporting declining profits and grappling with intense competition both domestically and in key regional markets. Investments in digital businesses and cybersecurity services stretched its resources thin, even as traditional revenue streams dried up. 

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M1, the smallest of the trio, found itself vulnerable to market forces, leading to its acquisition by Keppel Corporation and Singapore Press Holdings in 2019—the privatisation aimed to facilitate a much-needed transformation away from the relentless scrutiny of public markets.

These cumulative pressures would set the stage for the turbulence of 2020 and 2021. 

For StarHub, the cracks were becoming chasms. The abrupt resignation of CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos in October 2020 — officially citing personal reasons — highlighted the mounting pressures within the organisation. It underscored the urgent need for a strategic pivot, a reimagining of what StarHub could be in an era where agility and innovation were no longer optional but essential for survival — the earlier years had laid bare the vulnerabilities within traditional telco models, emphasising the imperative for customer-centric offerings and nimble strategies.

In retrospect, the turmoil of 2020 and 2021 wasn't an aberration but an acceleration of existing trends. The industry had been inching toward a tipping point, and the challenges of those years served to hasten the inevitable. 

Nikhil remembers the year when he was appointed with great clarity. "It was a bit of a rush, right? Because our prior CEO was a great guy — a very professional CEO who had been a CEO for probably about two decades at various companies. He had to leave in a hurry for circumstances I wouldn't go into specifics about, but it was a terrible family emergency."

As a quasi-external, quasi-internal candidate, Nikhil's path to leadership was a blend of timing, readiness, and his long-standing connection to the telecommunications giant through ST Telemedia, the major shareholder of StarHub. "I thought I was a decent fit at the time. StarHub had a proud history as a challenger but had experienced a period of decline, along with the industry's downturn. I, along with other stakeholders, felt it was time to shake things up."

Leading by connection and collaboration

From the moment he stepped into the CEO role at StarHub, Nikhil realised that traditional, hierarchical trappings of leadership didn't fit his style. "When we had a more traditional office setup, with an executive floor — something put in place at StarHub back in 2010 or 2012 — I quickly realised no one wanted to sit there. By the time I arrived in January 2021, I was one of only two people left on that floor."

Nikhil's preference for engagement is immediate and tangible — he's a leader who thrives on interaction and spontaneity, finding energy in unexpected conversations that arise from simply being among his people. "I love sitting outside because people walk by, say hi, and I get to engage in spontaneous conversations about how things are going—whether it's about the business or their personal initiatives," he explains. It's in these moments that he finds the pulse of the organisation, a real-time feedback loop that keeps him connected to StarHub's heartbeat.

Far from being the typical isolated figure at the top, Nikhil moves fluidly through the open spaces of StarHub's office, his leadership marked by an engaging presence. "As a leader, I see myself as someone who wants to paint on a canvas and create something new, but not like an artist working alone in a sunlit room," he says, illustrating a leadership philosophy rooted in collaboration. "You have to create alongside others, from start to finish, and that's what makes it special." 

This collaborative spirit is tied to an intriguing dichotomy within Nikhil's leadership. He recognises a hidden duality that many CEOs embody but rarely discuss. "Chief executives are often viewed by society as highly extroverted people, and naturally, the job demands it—you have to engage with your teams, customers, and partners, and you always have to be 'on,'" he reflects. But in a refreshing twist, he counters this perception, revealing that many CEOs are actually "introverts at heart but functional extroverts." His own ability to oscillate between introspection and action is a deliberate choice, one he believes enhances his effectiveness.

In Nikhil's eyes, this dual personality — an introvert who can outwardly act with energy and decisiveness — is a powerful tool. "A contemplative and reflective introvert who also acts and does — now that's a potent combination," he posits. "If you're only contemplative and reflective without taking action, you may not impact the world or anything beyond yourself. But if you're all action without contemplation, that's a recipe for disaster — you risk having a negative impact." 

His leadership philosophy is further grounded in how he approaches both success and failure, viewing them as essential parts of the same journey. "Things don't always go smoothly — there are always stumbles along the way. But, as I often say, and I think every chief executive would agree, life is an incremental series of small successes and setbacks." 

The high stakes of soccer

A memorable setback that came to define how Starhub would eventually lay out its consumer offering would be its saga with the English Premier League (EPL) broadcasting rights. Once basking in the glory of being the primary EPL broadcaster, StarHub lost the rights to Singtel in 2009, a blow that significantly impacted its pay-TV subscriber base and dented customer loyalty.

Fast forward to 2022, StarHub reclaimed the EPL rights, aiming for a grand resurgence. Anticipation was high as subscribers awaited seamless streaming on StarHub's new platform. However, technical glitches soon marred the experience — lags, buffering, and interruptions frustrated viewers during crucial matches. Social media buzzed with complaints, turning what should have been a triumphant return into a public relations setback.

This episode highlighted deeper issues within StarHub's strategic approach — its aggressive pursuit of exclusive content wasn't matched by sufficient investment in infrastructure to deliver it effectively. 

The Premier League fiasco further underscored that acquiring rights is only half the battle; flawless delivery is equally critical, especially in an era of high consumer expectations. The incident also sparked industry-wide reflection on the sustainability of costly exclusive content in Singapore's saturated market, and it became evident that enhancing customer experience and technological readiness is as vital as the content itself.

Rebuilding trust

Facing the fallout from the technical glitches that marred its English Premier League (EPL) broadcasts, StarHub embarked on a decisive journey to rectify the situation and restore customer trust. The company began by issuing a public apology, openly acknowledging the disruptions that had frustrated viewers during crucial matches — an essential first step in taking responsibility and reassuring subscribers that their concerns were being heard.

Understanding that actions speak louder than words, StarHub also offered compensation to affected customers. As a goodwill gesture, refunds and bill rebates were provided, along with complimentary access to additional content. These moves aimed to demonstrate the company's commitment to making amends and valuing its subscribers' loyalty.

Behind the scenes, StarHub launched a thorough investigation to pinpoint the root causes of the streaming issues. They invested heavily in upgrading their streaming infrastructure, increasing server capacity, and optimising network performance to better handle the high traffic volumes that live sports events generate. Collaborations with technology partners and content delivery networks were strengthened to enhance the robustness and scalability of their platform.

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The saga also underscored the importance of clear and proactive communication, leading to StarHub bolstering its customer support efforts. Support channels were expanded, and additional staff were deployed to efficiently handle inquiries and complaints. Real-time updates were provided through social media and customer portals, keeping subscribers informed about ongoing improvements and demonstrating the company's transparency.

More importantly, StarHub focused on future-proofing its services to prevent similar issues from arising again. They adopted advanced monitoring tools designed to detect and address potential problems before they could impact viewers. This proactive approach ensured a seamless viewing experience for future broadcasts.

"You learn more from failure than success, and you appreciate success even more when you've experienced failure," Nikhil reflects on the aftermath of the crisis, articulating a philosophy that values resilience and agility as core tenets of effective leadership. "I see one of my strengths as being able to navigate both successes and failures and, crucially, learning from those failures. I believe that learning agility and resilience are deeply intertwined; they're essential qualities, especially in leadership."

Redefining purpose

Today, with almost a decade's worth of experience under his belt, Nikhil is no stranger to wrestling with the big, recurring questions that haunt the telecommunications industry. "The big question, which is nonstop and recurring for telcos, is whether they should stick to their knitting — stick to their core purpose and just focus on pure connectivity," he muses, capturing the central dilemma faced by telecoms worldwide.

For StarHub, this question isn't merely philosophical — it's a defining pivot point. "Rather than just doing plain vanilla mobile or broadband, we take it further — we do OTT streaming, consumer cybersecurity, cloud gaming. On the enterprise side, we don't just offer domestic fibre connectivity. We also have services such as cloud networking, hybrid multi-cloud with embedded cybersecurity, service assurance, and service management."

When pushed, Nikhil admits that the industry's tension is a near-existential challenge. "Telcos have been a bit bipolar about this over time," he reflects. "There was a boom when sticking to the core product worked well, right up until the early 2000s. Markets were growing, even mature ones, and as those markets slowed, emerging markets picked up. But then came the OTT players, delivering tremendous value to consumers and enterprises on the back of telcos' investment in infrastructure but capturing the bulk of that value."

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He envisions StarHub redefining the telco role from a mere connectivity provider to an enabler of broader value creation, seamlessly integrating connectivity into everyday experiences and enterprise functions. 

"Our core purpose is to do much more beyond just connectivity. We want to bring broader value to consumers and enable enterprises to act as force multipliers for their own communities. It's about our societal purpose and value. But we're doing it differently than telcos have tried before. Instead of adding separate adjuncts to connectivity, we embed connectivity directly into the value chain."

Cloud, AI, and a Smart City

As he looks ahead, Nikhil is encouraged by how the evolving landscape of cloud and AI will redefine not just the consumer experience but the enterprise journey as well. "The big focus for us is how the world is evolving with cloud and AI, particularly shifting from consumers to enterprises," he notes. With Singapore's ongoing push towards becoming a smart city, enterprises are under immense pressure to keep pace and evolve into 'smart enterprises.'

"If you're an enterprise in Singapore today, your biggest pain point is adapting to the government's push towards becoming a smart city. But to align with this, enterprises themselves need to become smart enterprises." StarHub's response is building a multi-tenant infrastructure that integrates critical digital tools, making them available both for internal use and for external enterprise customers. 

"We're taking our network, and by the end of the year, it will run on a hybrid, multi-cloud infrastructure. We'll have a core fabric that integrates tools for service assurance, service management, data lakes with AI capabilities, and end-to-end cybersecurity."

This interconnected platform, dubbed 'Cloud Infinity,' promises to accelerate Singapore's smart city ambitions by lowering costs, reducing integration times, and enhancing overall service reliability. "Our platform supports open integration, meaning companies can easily add any software or hardware from the market — it's not a closed ecosystem. This flexibility is key to speeding up Singapore's journey to becoming a smart city."

And when it comes to the infrastructure improvements at StarHub, Nikhil's vision is far from just upgrading technology for the sake of staying competitive. "It goes to enabling people, our society, and our people to live lives that are more enriching, right?" he begins, grounding his approach in a core philosophy. "Time is scarce, and when you have the opportunity to access great content, along with tech and tools that improve your life, make it more seamless, and do so in a way that's safer, it really matters." 

There's also a multiplier effect that Nikhil takes pride in. "For our direct consumers, it brings in a lot of lifestyle value because they spend less time on things that aren't enriching," he offers. 

But the real power, Nikhil asserts, comes from StarHub's role in the enterprise space. "We're not just a consumer company — it's 50/50, consumer and enterprise. We work with our enterprise customers to provide the same value to their own consumers. It's a multiplier effect, and we take great joy and pride in that."

Still, Nikhil is quick to acknowledge that the journey isn't complete, nor will it ever be. "Every month, we put another building block in place, and at the end of the year, people will start seeing real and material differences, and then we'll accelerate from there." It's a constant evolution that aims to create ripple effects through both StarHub's consumers and the enterprises it partners with, making these businesses "force multipliers for their own consumers."

At the heart of this effort is a guiding principle: "human-centric technology." As Nikhil explains, "There's so much tech and tools out there. How do you make sense of it, right, as an enterprise or even as a consumer? How do you put it together in a way that's cost-efficient and delivers overall value?" 

For Nikhil, it's about simplifying the ecosystem and making platforms agile, scalable, and cloud-based, with data at the core. "When you apply AI, driving societal value, that's what gives us pride," he says. The ultimate goal is to make technology "more human-centric, more human," bringing it closer to the people and enterprises it serves.

Balancing leadership and self

Reflecting on the night before he accepted the role of CEO, Nikhil offers a candid assessment of his journey since 2021. "Good or bad? Both?" he asks with a thoughtful pause. "On the positive side, I underestimated the sheer intensity of the journey — the sheer number of ups and downs you go through around a team, people, process, technology, business, and financial results. The sheer frequency of those ups and downs is something I hadn't fully grasped."

He elaborates on the whirlwind that each week presents: "When I look at my calendar for a week, it's quite shocking the number of things you go through. You're working with customers, dealing with problems and crises, marketing, stakeholders, financial results — all of this happens within a week. The intensity was something I knew existed as an operator versus an investor, but I underestimated it. However, I feel richer and more gratified for having gone through it."

Beyond the professional challenges, Nikhil delves into the personal demands of leadership. "I also underestimated the focus you have to put on yourself in managing your own wellness to be effective," he reflects. "It's interesting I say that because I've always been big on this mantra for the last ten years or so. I've kept myself in good physical condition; I do a lot of sports, especially early in the morning, to help compartmentalise."

He likens his approach to a pyramid: "At the base is physical wellness, then mental wellness on top of that, and spiritual wellness at the apex. You can't have one without the others. Everything builds on the layer below." Yet, he acknowledges that maintaining this balance is more challenging at the helm of a major corporation. 

"The discipline you need to maintain your physical, mental, and spiritual wellness has to be there. If you're not doing it, you're not only short-changing yourself but everyone around you."

The measure of success

"What would success look like for you today, and how far are you from that barometer?" I ask as our interview draws to a close. "The second part is easier because, by definition, we'll never be done," he says without hesitation, acknowledging the nature of progress in an industry that's constantly evolving. "As soon as we get close to objective one, we'll set objective two. And usually, we set objective two about a year before we even hit the first one. Then there'll be objectives three, four, and so on."

Elaborating, Nikhil asserts that success for him isn't measured by reaching a single milestone — it's a continual journey with no definitive endpoint. His vision for StarHub is "dual-pronged," as he describes it: one part focused on enriching the lives of consumers with a force multiplier effect and the other on helping enterprises serve their users better while keeping everyone safer. 

It's a holistic approach that goes beyond incremental gains and looks at how each success feeds into the next.

"In this journey, we continually set new, far-reaching objectives in a phased, sequential manner," he explains. "We don't finish one thing, box it up, and then move to the next; we keep planning and pushing forward." It's about maintaining momentum — there's no resting on laurels, no final victory lap. But amid this constant push forward, there's a personal layer to his definition of success: "For me personally, I'd like to see that we've truly given it our best shot and that StarHub has really moved things forward in advancing our society."