EY’s Atul Chandna: Industry modernisation must connect operational expertise with reliable data, coordination

He noted that companies must coordinate operations with infrastructure, regulations, digital readiness, and workforce capabilities.

Asia’s marine, maritime, offshore, and industrial sectors are prioritising operational efficiency, supply chain resilience, and digital transformation to meet evolving market demands and sustainability goals. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics are driving smarter decision-making, more streamlined processes, and higher productivity across the sectors’ complex operations.

These developments align with the expertise of EY Asean Supply Chain and Digital Innovation Leader, Atul Chandna, who has deep knowledge of sales and supply chain functions in the consumer goods, retail, and chemicals sectors across the Asia-Pacific region. He has supported local and multinational companies in the design and delivery of large-scale turnaround programmes.

His experience also spans digital supply chain innovation, including robotic process automation, analytics, mobility, and AI. He has led many advanced supply chain analytics and process consulting initiatives, as well as designed and implemented supply chain control towers across several regions.

Speaking with Oceanus Awards 2027 as one of its esteemed judges, Chandna uncovers how geopolitical developments, supply chain realignments, and emerging technologies are shaping the marine, maritime, industrial, and offshore sectors. He also examines how companies can adapt their investment strategies, leverage AI and other technologies to improve operational efficiency and decision-making, and build more agile and resilient supply chains.

How has your experience leading supply chain and digital innovation initiatives across Southeast Asia shaped your understanding of the challenges facing the region’s marine, maritime, industrial, and offshore sectors?

Leading supply chain and digital innovation initiatives across Southeast Asia (SEA) has shown me a practical challenge: companies must coordinate operations across markets with different infrastructure, regulations, digital readiness and workforce capabilities.

In the marine, maritime, industrial and offshore sectors, this complexity affects asset reliability, safety and service continuity across vessels, ports, yards, warehouses and offshore facilities. Legacy systems and fragmented data make it harder to understand how disruptions in one part of the network may affect another. Modernisation therefore needs to connect operational expertise with reliable data and coordination across these locations, rather than simply introduce new technology. The priority is to give teams the information and capabilities they need to make faster, better-informed operational decisions.

How are recent geopolitical shifts and supply chain realignments influencing the strategies and investment priorities of maritime and logistics companies across Southeast Asia?

Geopolitical shifts are prompting maritime and logistics companies across SEA to prioritise flexibility in capacity and infrastructure: the ability to redirect cargo and secure alternative capacity when trade conditions change.

Investment priorities include diversified routes, multimodal transport and regional logistics hubs. Scenario planning can help assess how tariffs, regulatory changes, and disruptions affect freight flows, costs, and customer service. Better visibility across critical trade lanes supports earlier decisions on where to reposition capacity. Whilst regionalisation is one option, it is not a universal answer. Companies need to consider how network configurations affect cost, service, and exposure to disruption before committing capital.

How can marine, maritime, and offshore companies leverage artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to improve operational efficiency and decision-making?

Companies should start with a specific operational problem. Predictive analytics can help anticipate equipment failure and schedule maintenance. AI-enabled planning can improve routing, fuel use, inventory, and workforce deployment. Digital twins can test decisions on vessels, ports and offshore assets before implementation, whilst computer vision and connected sensors can support inspections and monitoring in hazardous environments. Control towers can flag disrupted routes early and help planners evaluate alternatives.

However, the value of these technological tools depends on how effectively they are embedded into day-to-day operations. Reliable data, integration with operating processes, and employees who can act on the insights are essential. Human oversight remains critical for decisions affecting safety, regulatory compliance, and operational continuity.

How can companies in Southeast Asia’s marine and offshore sectors build more agile supply chains to respond to changing market conditions?

Agility starts with identifying critical dependencies beyond immediate suppliers. Components and services should be assessed by criticality, lead time and substitutability, rather than managed under a uniform sourcing or inventory policy. For mission-critical items, options include qualified alternative suppliers, regional repair capacity, strategic inventory, and contractual access to additional capacity.

The next step is turning that understanding into clear response plans. Companies need defined triggers and pre-agreed actions for changes in demand, supplier performance, and logistics capacity. Routine scenario planning can help them choose a response before a disruption threatens safety, asset availability, or customer service.

As supply chains become more data-intensive, how should companies address data quality, system integration, and cybersecurity risks?

Companies should treat data quality, system integration and cybersecurity risks as interconnected operational priorities. Begin with the data needed for critical operational and commercial decisions. Assign owners, agree with consistent definitions, and set quality checks so that teams and systems use the same information.

Integration should allow information to move securely between vessels, ports, enterprise systems, and external partners. Build cybersecurity into these connections by separating information technology from operational technology, control access, secure third-party interfaces, monitor threats, and test incident-response procedures. This is particularly important where connected assets link previously isolated operational systems to shore-based networks.

As AI becomes more embedded in operations, maintaining reliable data, and secure connections becomes increasingly important to the quality and integrity of the decisions these systems support.

As a judge at the Oceanus Awards 2027, what key qualities and achievements will you be looking for in companies that exemplify excellence?

I will be looking for submissions that demonstrate measurable improvements in safety, reliability, productivity, sustainability, customer service, or supply chain resilience. What matters is that there is clear evidence that an initiative has addressed a meaningful business or operational challenge and delivered tangible results.

I will also look at what it took to make that change work in practice. Workforce adoption, data quality and governance determine whether an initiative delivers lasting value, and the ability to scale beyond a single pilot, asset, or business unit strengthens the case.

Where AI is used, I expect to see responsible deployment, human oversight, and sound cybersecurity.