2026 Speaker's Profile
Ben Foo
Chief Executive Officer
Woodpeckers Group
Ben Foo is the chief executive officer of Woodpeckers Group, one of Malaysia’s fastest-growing multi-brand F&B operators, with a portfolio spanning llaollao, ChaTraMue, Shae.Co and homegrown concepts across more than 200 outlets nationwide. He brings over 27 years of leadership across F&B, higher education, corporate travel and FMCG, with a career built on brand transformation, commercial turnarounds and full P&L stewardship.
Before Woodpeckers, Foo served as group chief marketing officer at Taylor’s Higher Education, where he led a transformation that doubled enrolments, lifting the institution to its strongest financial performance on record. He also served as president of Holiday Tours & Travel, where he steered the business through the pandemic and restructured it back to profitability. Earlier, as marketing director at McDonald’s Malaysia, he helped steer the brand through one of its most severe crises, restoring and then surpassing pre-crisis revenues in an experience that shaped his conviction that reputation and commercial performance are inseparable.
Having led brand, marketing and communications across QSR, education, travel and hospitality, Foo has spent his career at the intersection where marketing, PR and social increasingly overlap, drawing on a track record of turning brand strategy into measurable growth across some of Malaysia’s most recognised names.
2026 Speakers

Cindy Ho
Vice President of Business Development

Naohiro Yamaura
Chairman and CEO

Joshua Tan Shi Rong
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Shermaine Wong
Founder and CEO

Khoo Xing Jun
Head of Digital, Media and Insights
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Norafida Ramlee
Head of Marketing

Ila Mathi
Head of APAC Digital Business and Brand Experience (B2B2C)
Kimberly-Clark

Lynn Low
Chief Marketing Officer
Marrybrown

Catherine Yap
Asia Marketing Director, Chocolate

Naveensegram (Naveen) RS
Head of Digital Acceleration

Debra Deyvitah
Head of Marketing – Foods

Caroline Foo
President Director and Managing Director

Andrew Pinto
Vice President of Brand and Marketing, Unifi

Ben Foo
Chief Executive Officer

Venon Tian
Group CEO
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Abdul Sani Abdul Murad
Moderator

Neeraj Gulati
Moderator

Rezwana Manjur
Editor-in-Chief
MARKETING-INTERACTIVE