How a Triple-E Student Found His Place in AI and Computing?
When Kelvin Kok, Founder & Chief Architect of Axrail enrolled at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to study Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE), the world of computer programming was not even on his radar. Like many young undergraduates, he had no clear idea of his long-term career path. A chance internship during his third year would change everything and set him on a trajectory that would eventually lead to founding one of Southeast Asia’s fast-growing AI companies.
A Chance Encounter with the World of Code
In Kelvin’s early NTU days, programming felt abstract, little more than writing scripts to print stars and shapes on a screen. “Back then, it made no sense,” he recalls. “You’re just coding something you can’t connect to real-world impact.”
“In my third year, I randomly picked an internship at a local IT firm,” Kelvin recalled. “Under the mentorship of the founder, Mr. Chia Yoong Hui, I had the chance to work on end-to-end programming projects, and it completely broadened my perspective.” For the first time, he saw his code driving tangible business outcomes. This realisation transformed programming from a dry academic exercise into a passion. By his final year, Kelvin had shifted his focus to computer engineering, leaving his original EEE roots behind.
(Photo: Axrail)
His first job took him into the Human Resource consulting space, where he built web applications for employee benefits enrolment. These were practical, user-facing systems that further solidified his interest in software.
From Cloud to AI
Kelvin’s path to AI did not begin with AI at all. It began with the cloud. As a Solution Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the mid-2010s, he worked with early adopters of cloud computing in a market still filled with skepticism.
“Back then, people asked: Why run on the cloud? What’s the point?” Kelvin says. Witnessing the transformative potential of cloud technology convinced him that the future of computing would live there. When he founded his own company, it started as a cloud solutions provider.
The transition to AI was a natural evolution. The company’s early work in data processing and deep learning built a foundation that would prove invaluable when OpenAI launched ChatGPT and its APIs. Kelvin and his team quickly experimented with integrating generative AI into chatbots, combining OpenAI’s models with WhatsApp Business APIs. The prototype drew strong customer interest, but data privacy concerns slowed adoption.
When AWS introduced its own generative AI services with strict data protection guarantees, enterprise clients came on board. Kelvin’s company evolved from a cloud-first operation into a provider of scalable AI solutions, positioning them perfectly for the AI wave.
The Growing Pains of Scaling
Like many tech founders, Kelvin’s early challenge was not building products but building a business. As a deeply technical founder, he was used to handling everything himself. That approach worked when the team was small, but it became unsustainable as demand grew.
“The problem was, every meeting needed me. Every project needed me. We could pay our bills, but there was no way to scale,” he says.
The breakthrough came when Kelvin joined an entrepreneurs’ organisation and learned from business leaders in other industries. The key was building standard operating procedures (SOPs) and processes that allowed the business to function without his constant presence. By empowering other leaders in the company, he freed himself from day-to-day bottlenecks and created a scalable operational model.
This change coincided with another important business decision, diversifying services. While Kelvin had initially focused on complex cloud projects, he realised that simpler, high-demand services such as cloud migration were both profitable and easier to deliver at scale. He set up dedicated teams for these services, which provided a stable revenue base for the company’s AI innovations.
A Southeast Asian Team with a Global Vision
Today, Kelvin’s company operates across Singapore and Malaysia, with a team of fifty. Uniquely, all team members are from Southeast Asia, which was a deliberate choice.
“There’s so much young talent here. They’re ambitious, but often lack a platform to shine,” Kelvin says. His hiring philosophy embraces fresh graduates and invests in training them to acquire the skills needed. Many outperform industry veterans within a few years.
Kelvin also sees the region itself as a strategic advantage. The ASEAN economy is the fifth largest in the world when combined, and its youthful population means high growth potential. The company’s model is to develop successful AI use cases in one country, then replicate them in another, leveraging local insights while keeping solutions adaptable.
(Photo: Axrail)
Fail Fast, Learn Fast
One of the company’s core values is “Think Big,” and with cloud technology, experimentation is cheaper and faster than ever before. “In the past, you needed expensive hardware to try something new. Now, you can run an experiment in the cloud and shut it down if it doesn’t work.”
This fail-fast, learn-fast culture has driven much of the company’s generative AI progress. Many of its solutions began as small internal experiments before being refined for customer deployment.
Youth as a Strength
While some see a young workforce as a risk, Kelvin sees it as a strength provided they are given a clear mission. He focuses on explaining the “why” behind projects rather than dictating exactly “how” things should be done.
“When they understand the impact they can make for customers or for society, they take ownership,” he explains. “Some of our team members come from wealthy families. They’re not here for the pay check; they’re here to make an impact.”
This approach has fostered creativity and innovation. In less than three years, many junior hires have developed unique, effective ways to solve complex problems without needing constant oversight.
Customer-Driven AI Solutions
What sets Kelvin’s AI products apart is their origin in customer needs. Rather than inventing solutions in isolation, his team works directly with clients to identify and validate problems worth solving. Today, the company has five scalable AI use cases, each refined through multiple customer engagements and enriched by feedback from diverse industries.
This approach ensures that the company’s AI products are not only technically sound but also immediately applicable in production environments.
Leadership Lessons
Over six years of leading the company, Kelvin’s biggest lesson has been the importance of clarity, both in purpose and in success metrics.
“It’s not enough to tell people what to do. You need to give them a clear picture of what success looks like and why it matters. Then they can figure out how to get there,” he says.
Finding talent with a growth mindset is equally critical. Kelvin believes that with the right mindset, skills can be learned. Without it, scaling a company is impossible.
Thinking Big: The Road Ahead
Kelvin’s “think big” goal is to take the company public. To get there, he plans to focus on scalable AI agents that can be deployed across multiple customers without heavy customisation. This shift from bespoke solutions to repeatable products will be essential for reaching the next growth stage.
He also sees Southeast Asia playing a larger role in the global AI ecosystem, both as a testbed for new ideas and as a hub for cost-effective, high-value AI services.
Advice to AI Hesitators
For businesses still unsure about AI adoption, Kelvin’s advice is simple: do not wait for perfection.
“You can plan forever, but until you take the first step, you’ll never know the outcome. Even a 50 percent automation of a process can double productivity and directly boost profits. Start with a proof of concept, validate it, and build from there.”
He illustrates this with a common example, converting purchase orders into sales orders. In many companies, this involves manual data entry. Even partial AI automation of this task can save significant time and costs.
Kelvin’s journey from a chance internship to leading an AI company is a story of adaptability, curiosity, and relentless pursuit of progress. What began as an unexpected entry into programming has become a mission to empower Southeast Asia’s young talent, drive business transformation through AI, and prove that in technology, the biggest breakthroughs often come from the most unexpected beginnings.
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