AFYAN CHOLIL ASY'ARI
Founder's Mentality, Sustainability, and Everything in Between
Founder's Mentality, Sustainability, and Everything in Between
A results-driven business strategist with more than 5 years of experience driving growth and transformation across FMCG and e-retail in the APAC region. Proven ability to design and execute successful corporate strategies, go-to-market plans, and regional expansions through strategic partnerships and distribution channels. Adept at leveraging data-informed insights to solve complex business problems, including the discovery of financial fraud (>\IDR 1 Billion recovery), improving operations (reducing customer complaints by 40,000+ and minimizing order cancellation losses by IDR 3+ Billion), with a strong foundation in business administration and managerial finance from Institut Teknologi Bandung.
Since his study, he was actively involved and led several organizations, business competitions, internship, and working experience where he got the opportunity to hone his skills in business, strategic planning, project management, and data analytics. He graduated with summa cum laude and received full scholarship from Thailand’s State Owned Enterprise and the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Email: afyancholil@gmail.com | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/afyancholil/ | Phone: +6282298371357
Worldwhite Enterprise - WE Group (Nov 2022 - Present)
Worldwhite Enterprise (WE Group) is a retailer & a house of lifestyle brands with extensive experience in social media marketing, influencer marketing, community, and brand networks with over 5+ million followers on social media. As part of the CEO Office, I was assigned a series of 'tours of duty' to lead business transformations and solve critical challenges across the company's various functions.
Architecting the Growth Engine (Integrated Planning & Operations, Jul 2025 - Present)
Problem: The company lacked a unified, executable operational & commercial plan across its diverse portfolio of brands.
Solution: Built and led a multidisciplinary team to spearhead the entire planning lifecycle, from product strategy to supply chain execution.
Impact: Created an end-to-end planning engine that directly drives profitability, optimizes inventory, and enhances operational agility by orchestrating the entire commercial planning lifecycle with 146 team members across Product Strategy & Assurance (Merchandising, QA); Commercial & Operations Planning (S&OP, Online Commercial, Offline Commercial); and Planning Execution & Control (PPIC, Warehouse).
Leading Financial Operations & Data Intelligence (Business & Financial Operations Improvement, Oct 2024 - Jul 2025)
Problem: Financial workflows were manual, leading to significant inefficiencies and the discovery of internal financial crime.
Solution: Conducted a comprehensive audit that uncovered over >IDR 1 Billion in financial fraud, leading to swift recovery of funds. Simultaneously, acted as a product owner to establish a unified data repository and build core dashboards for end-to-end performance analysis.
Impact: Secured company assets, improved data accuracy and visibility, and eliminated inefficiencies by creating a "single source of truth" for the entire organization in 3 core looker dashboards as diagnosis tools.
Spearheading Customer-Centric Transformation (Operational Excellence, Feb 2024 - Oct 2024)
Problem: High volume of customer complaints and order cancellations were impacting brand reputation and revenue during peak seasons.
Solution: Directed a 50+ member operational team (warehouse, e-commerce admin, customer service) and implemented proactive solutions, culminating in the establishment of a new Customer Experience Department.
Impact: Reduced >40,000 customer complaints and prevented over >IDR 3 Billion in order cancellation losses, while creating a foundation for long-term service excellence.
Organizational Transformation (HR Process Improvement, Apr 2023 - Jul 2023)
Problem: People operations were manual and based on an outdated Excel system, creating significant inefficiencies in payroll, work schedules, and overall operational systems. The company also lacked strategic senior leadership in HR and required a robust governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) framework to ensure alignment with government regulations.
Solution: Initiated and led the transition from manual operations to a comprehensive HRIS, streamlining core functions. Additionally, I played a key role in the successful recruitment of strategic leadership positions, including the Head of HR. Concurrently, aided in the development of a GRC strategy by evaluating existing policies and organizing workshops for over 180 employees to ensure compliance with government regulations.
Impact: This effort successfully created a more efficient and scalable operational foundation. By securing top-tier talent and building a comprehensive GRC framework, the company was able to ensure a strong leadership pipeline and maintain compliance, creating a solid platform for future growth.
Driving Commercial Innovation (Corporate Strategy, Nov 2022 - Feb 2023)
Problem: The company's portfolio of multiple SME brands was fragmented, lacking a unified strategic direction and preventing the realization of cohesive corporate growth.
Solution: Assisted the consolidation of several SME brands into a cohesive corporate entity by creating and managing a Long-Term Roadmap Plan. This was achieved through a systematic process of SWOT analysis, a Strategic Objectives Matrix, and in-depth interviews with C-level executives to capture their strategic vision. [News]
Impact: Solved the significant inventory of unsold products by initiating the annual "Imperfect Sale" event to monetize deadstock inventory which generated billions rupiah in a-week event [Imperfect Sale].
Paragon Corp (Nov 2020 - Oct 2022)
Corporate Strategy (Nov 2022 - Oct 2023)
Collaborated with the CEO and Family Office team to analyze and develop a strategic plan for business innovation and investment in the Holding portfolio.
Examined 10 industrial analysis through primer & desk research: situational analysis, competitive landscape & benchmarking, government regulation, financial feasibility, and market penetration strategies.
Project Implementation (Nov 2020 - Dec 2021)
Assisted, coordinated and executed serial special projects, including CSR, Employer Branding, Enterprise Incubator, and Community Development Programs [@growatparagon; @pif_id; @leadthefest; @indonesiapeerleaders]
Developed and implemented end-to-end program and people development strategies for company and management projects, including a digital employer branding campaign, recruitment, curriculum design, and partner relations, reaching 13,000+ participants and achieving a 10x increase in followers and a 7% engagement rate improvement, while leading a 4-member team.
Established a right-fit talent sourcing pipeline by co-initiating and managing a coaching-driven peer learning program, cultivating 40 future leaders with FMCG industry insights and case study training, resulting in an efficient Management Trainee and Internship Program hiring process.
SaaS Company
Founder's Office (Jan 2020 - Apr 2020)
Assisted the founders to research, strategic formulation, and implementation for the company that include:
1. Multi-channel management
2. Brand building, management and consultant
3. Offline channels penetration and operation
4. Digital & internet marketing
5. ATL & BTL marketing - Including Social Media Management / PR / Events / Roadshows
6. KOL management
7. Finance, Accounting, Tax (FAT)
8. Legal and License
Siam Cement Group
Project Support Coordinator (Apr 2019 - Apr 2020)
Co-led a team from various regions in organizing the "Retote Project" - a CSR program and collaborated with the local youth community (Karang Karuna) to develop the circular economic status of a rural village by upgrading its value from unused textile waste
Delegated Indonesia for Sustainable Development Symposium in Bangkok 2019
Successfully pitched a community project to the Kingdom of Thailand's Former Prime Minister in Bangkok, securing full support from them through Thailand's SOE, obtaining ~IDR 100 Mio Grants.
Market Data Analyst for Institut Teknologi Bandung - Indonesia (Oct 2024 - Present)
Applied data analytics to industrial applications, supporting the Catalysis and Processing Systems Engineering Department (FTI) under Dr. Haryo Pandu Winoto, contributing to the Long Term Plan for RIPIN 2035 Indonesia in the chemical industry.
Business Analyst for Whare Haurora - New Zealand (Oct 2022 - Feb 2023)
Collecting and analyzing data from various sources related to IoT commercialization in order to generate GtM strategy
Creating reports, dashboards, and visualizations to help others understand business performance with Looker Data Studio.
Business Analyst for NSW Government - Australia (Apr 2022 - Jul 2022)
Facilitated local consumer research on Indonesia market for several industries.
Collaborated with the expert staff in developing the Industry Reports
Program Manager for Ancora Foundation - Indonesia (Jul 2021 - Dec 2021)
Ancora Foundation - a philanthropic organization founded by entrepreneur Gita Irawan Wirjawan with an overriding objective to light fire in the minds of the young in Indonesia through education.
Developed and launched EKSTRA, a circular economy learning platform, leading a cross-functional agile team of 7 (Design, IT, Marketing Communication). Delivered key features including a game-based learning component, 5 modules, and marketing activations, resulting in significant outcomes: 19K+ reach, 10K+ user engagement, and 1,500+ contributors. [Website] [Report]
Assistant Project Manager for Kampus Merdeka - Indonesia (Aug 2018 - Dec 2019)
Assists the program given by the Ministry of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia namely Kredensial Mikro Mahasiswa Indonesia for Bandung Institute of Technology. His team and he successfully reached +300% of the targeted registrants. My key responsibilities:
Assisted the curriculum program and whole budgeting process.
Managed end-to-end recruitment process and general administration for 4K+ applicants
Managed and evaluated day to day operations for the program which led 500+ students across Indonesia.
Act as a mentor and facilitator for a startup teams in CORE program for Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Agile Project Management
Industry research
Market research
Strategic Innovation
Business Development
Agile & Lean PM
Change Management
Stakeholder Management
Software Dev. Life Cycle
Exploratory Data Analysis
Web scrapping
Data Visualisation
Data Storytelling
Bandung Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Business
Magna Cum Laude. GPA: 3.77/4.00
Full scholarship from Ministry of Education and Culture, also ASEAN Sharing the Dream Scholars from Thailand Goverment.
Mentor Coordinator of Development Program for BIDIKMISI Awardee during 2018-2020
Research Assistant of SBM ITB in Decision Making and Strategic Negotiation (DMSN) Group
1st Winner at ITB Startup Challenge 2019
1st Runner Up of National Entrepreneur Competition 2020 by Bank Mandiri (Wirausaha Muda Mandiri) 2020
University Technology of Sydney
Leadership Development Program across APAC [Certificate of Completion]
As 1 of 10 awardees from Indonesia for Asia Leadership Intensive through International Internships
Identified and developed GtM strategy of Australian's business to entry Indonesia.
Universitas Multimedia Nusantara (DQ Lab)
Data Science Bootcamp [Certificate of Completion]
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), Python & SQL, Data Visualisation [Data Portfolio]
Selected as one of the Top 1% to get Scholarship
Universitas Multimedia Nusantara (DQ Lab)
Data Science Bootcamp [Certificate of Completion]
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), Python & SQL, Data Visualisation [Data Portfolio]
Selected as one of the Top 1% to get Scholarship
Although I am an analyst, I have always seen myself as an entrepreneur-at-heart. Having a founder’s mentality and a passion for lifelong learning is a deep part of who I am. After this journey, I see myself at the intersection of thinker and builder when referring to Lou Adler’s four types of work. I am addicted to solving problems, building things from scratch, and doing meaningful work.
Outside work, I enjoy traveling and volunteering, with a particular interest in education, entrepreneurship, also nature-related activities. It is not uncommon for me to express all my thoughts, perspectives, and feelings into writing for my blog.