Forging The Future: Exclusive Interview With Natalia Kusumo

Natalia Kusumo shares how she developed PIK2 from scratch, shines as a young CEO in the male – dominated business sector, and her future plans. Jessica Esther reports.

In a world full of dynamic movements, we should never underestimate the potential of young upstarts as they are full of fresh ideas and innovative decisions, as well as bold risk-takers. It’s the perfect time to challenge the view that they are not experienced enough to compete with the experienced seniors. Natalia Kusumo proves all this wrong. Natalia is one of the youngest CEOs of Agung Sedayu Group, leading Amantara as its subsidiary for the Commercial and Hotels Division 2. Instead of competing with older male colleagues who work in the sector, she has forged her smart moves while observing lessons from her peers. She humbly credits her peers as partners in achieving the ongoing success of PIK2, an area poised to become the new smart city in Jakarta.

Now that we have entered the new year, how’s 2023 been treating you so far? Are you excited to face new challenges this year?
So far, 2023 looks great with many exciting destinations to open and other plans in the pipeline. Our team has also grown to include many talents to manage and maintain high standards for our projects.

Can you tell us about your journey up to reaching this point?
I’ve gained experience in the hospitality industry since I was in school, doing all kinds of operational jobs in quite a few establishments. During my university years and as a professional abroad, I continued to work at some hotels in Indonesia and other countries. Afterwards, I made my home here to develop the Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) area into a modern, integrated smart city in North Jakarta.

It is widely known that the media call you the youngest CEO in an industry dominated by middle-aged men. How do you respond to that?
I am honoured by the media’s appreciation for our work throughout the years, which is not short of any challenges. Nevertheless, we continue to work together to produce the best results. I believe Indonesia has produced many talented, creative, and innovative young people who bring a lot of change, positive impact, and contributions to the country’s future. Meanwhile, the senior leadership team—the Chairman and Group CEO as founders, and other fellow CEOs—is also key to the company growth with their insights and experiences that we all can learn from.

What is it like to work as a young woman in a sector that is dominated by men?
I think it’s not easy, but not impossible to do because we can learn from one another. Over the years, Indonesia has grown and advanced rapidly in various industries including the property sector. Based on my experience working and being a leader in this sector, we can go beyond one’s gender to focus more on contributing our skills and knowledge to bring innovations and positive changes to society.

Looking through your profile, you came from a hospitality background, do you think that affects the way you manage your career now?
I enjoy making people happy with the services and products we create at Amantara and Agung Sedayu Group (ASG). There’s a saying that goes, “Even the tallest building started from the bottom.” Having learnt from the bottom in operational roles and gained experience, this has helped me build a stronger foundation within the group. For example, my first job taught me the most about creating and capturing the soul of a space—and even giving people new experiences beyond their expectations. As such, I’ve made it my vision and mission to transport guests into one-of-a-kind experiences while supporting SMEs and providing jobs for the citizens. Today, I understand more about the process behind it all, the challenges ahead, and possible ways to solve them.

Who do you always look up to, especially when discussing a career?
I often look up to my family members who are also fellow businesspeople and, of course, the group CEO with his years of experience and expertise. I’ve learnt so many lessons from their years of experience and the guidance I’ve received has helped me grow into a better leader and person overall.

At the very earliest stage of developing PIK2, was there a city in the world that inspired you?
We referred to Dubai and Miami for inspiration for Pasir Putih beach and Singapore’s Sentosa Island for PIK2. Next, to develop the 60ha Greenbelt area, we mimicked San Francisco’s urban development rule to include parks every few kilometres in residential areas. With all these adaptations, we see what best suits the PIK area’s specific nature. ASG also invites local educational institutes, religious bodies, and other elements of society to foster a holistic sense of a healthy community.

PIK2 is quite phenomenal, it is considered not just a hip place to hang out but also somewhat of a dream city. What was your initial strategy before developing the area?
We designed PIK2 as a seaside township with a complete facility where people can work, live, and play. Moreover, we are tapping into the transit market in which Indonesia has two major transit points: the cities of Denpasar and Jakarta. Denpasar, with its short distance to the airport, is already popular as a stopover point and has a happening transit business. We hope to expand into this market via direct toll-road access to the PIK area to contribute to Jakarta’s growth, especially with various travel destinations and facilities.

Our community is used to places like indoor shopping malls and PIK2 creates spaces where you can enjoy being outdoors. Is that a part of the strategy?
We are always on a quest to create even more unique concepts at our destinations and projects–to give people new experiences and excitement beyond expectations. Moreover, Indonesia has many wonderful natural features to explore and local knowledge to inspire us.

Any plan to integrate PIK2 with PIK1 or will the group refocus their development elsewhere?
The overall design for the Pantai Indah Kapuk area is integration where people will find all they need in one place, be it in PIK1 or PIK2: mixed-use buildings, destinations and hospitality developments, commercial and business areas, and residential. With many new destinations opening, normally there is excitement and curiosity for crowds to see what’s happening. After the dust settles, we will find that PIK1 and PIK2 complete one another and still have a place both for residents and visitors alike.

PIK2 is a district of diversity. It’s wonderful to see there are places like Pantjoran PIK, Batavia PIK, La Riviera, etc. What’s your cultural approach to that?
Indonesia is a rich and diverse country in many aspects, such as arts and culture, language, music, cuisine, etc. These are just some of the stories we explore through destinations like Pantjoran PIK (Chinese Peranakan culture), and Batavia PIK (Indonesian maritime trading heritage). We also look to other countries for inspiration like Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands for La Riviera PIK2. We will open Orange Groves PIK2 by the Tahang River in the Greenbelt area, which is reminiscent of the region of Sicily in Italy. Of course, we apply local insights when creating these destinations and their programs to suit the Indonesian market.

What was your initial dream for the PIK2 project and has it come true?
We started planning to build Golf Island and Riverwalk Island as gateways in North Jakarta from PIK1 to PIK2. Our concept here is to create a giant mall, which, unlike a conventional mall located within one building, would consist of several interconnected conceptual retail sites and facilities around the islands. As such, when you see it from a bird’s eye perspective, it would be a complete mall with facilities like restaurants, hotels, residential, and lifestyle centres. With the completion of several destinations this year, our plan has progressed well to prepare PIK2 as an integrated township.

Other competitive developers might have a nickname for their district to make it way more interesting for people to move there. Let’s say, Smart City, Satellite City, et cetera. If you could nickname PIK2, what would you call it and why?
I think PIK2 as a smart satellite city and an integrated seaside township would be fitting nicknames to add to our tagline, “PIK2, The New Jakarta City.”

Can share with us what’s next for PIK2 and what’s your biggest hope?
This year, we are ramping up collaborations with different elements of society to promote PIK as one of the top destinations in Jakarta, and among the choice destinations in the region. In 2025, hopefully, PIK will rank among the best destinations for global visitors. By then, PIK2 would have many new destinations and projects fitting our tagline of “PIK2, The New Jakarta City.