Thai entrepreneur champions global tech access

DUBAI: The provision of value-laden technical literacy must permeate worldwide so as not to benefit only a few countries.

The mindset is from Thai entrepreneur Kacha “Shogun” Mahadumrongkul, 29, Avant Labs founder/managing director.

Mahadumrongkul and 19 others are the “Under-30 Young Global Leaders” for the inaugural Oct.13-15 “Annual Meeting of Future Leaders 2026” in Dubai. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, honoured them.

Nicknamed “Shogun” – from the Japanese restaurant in Bangkok his parents weekly visited during his mother’s pregnancy –Mahadumrongkul formed the “technology and impact innovation hub” in 2025.

It is the apex of his eight-year technology/investment/social impact-driven career that began in 2017 when he founded the social venture Penta Medical Recycling that “repurposed medical waste into prosthetics for amputees.”

Six years earlier, he personally witnessed, as a new Buddhist monk, the catastrophic July 2011-January 2012 floods, resulting in over 800 deaths and most of the Thailand provinces, paralysed.

That “moment changed” his “life” while he saw exhausted farmers who lost everything sought “comfort from the head monk.”

“I wanted to help them and not just at that moment. I realised that what people like them needed was not charity; but the tools, knowledge and opportunities to rebuild their lives on their own terms. That idea has stayed with me ever since. To empower people with what they need to succeed, and to help them reach their fullest potential. What psychologists call self-actualisation,” wrote Shogun who eventually earned his Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Sciences and History from Yale University and his Diploma in International Relations from the University of Cambridge.

Growing up in a “spiritual family” whose daily life consists of “farmers and temple communities to business leaders,” Shogun saw that “talent and wisdom exist everywhere, but opportunity does not.”

His student life in the USA “later broadened that perspective. It showed me how much technology and entrepreneurship can change lives, and how unevenly those opportunities are shared around the world.”

The Thailand Youth representative at the 2023 United Nations COP28 in Dubai enumerated his other reasons for the Avant Labs.

“Emerging markets entrepreneurs have extraordinary talent and ambition; but there are too few of the bridges, mentors, networks and practical Artificial Intelligence capabilities and support provided for them to turn ideas into lasting impact.”

There was willingness among “brilliant students and seasoned founders” to “solve meaningful problems.” The problem is the availability of the “right environment.”

Shogun added: “Most of the funding goes to Silicon Valley when I was scouting for deals there, and I noticed a lot of brilliant entrepreneurs who had moved there for the right support and funding.”

He became resolute even more in replicating Silicon Valley because from his immersions in the Mekong Region consisting of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar as the WEF Global Shapers Community Champion, he saw the “enormous energy” of “young change-makers,” crippled by “few platforms.”

“And as AI began transforming every industry, I worried that many communities in our region would become consumers of technology rather than creators of it.”

Shogun, who has believed that “becoming a leader is not about standing above others, but about standing for something, and helping others rise with you” has the following advice:

• For the under-18: “You do not need permission to start. Build something even small like an app or a community project. Making mistakes now is the cheapest and fastest way to learn. Curiosity is your greatest asset. Protect it.”

• For adults: “Do not wait for the perfect moment. It rarely comes. Test your idea quickly with real customers. Listen carefully and be willing to change course. Your experience is valuable. Use it to see problems others miss.”

• For seniors and elders: “Your wisdom, networks and patience are things young founders deeply lack. Some of the most successful ventures are started later in life. Mentoring the next generation is one of the most powerful forms of entrepreneurship there is.”