ASEANEWS | BIZ-THE AYALAS | Editors’ Picks | MANILA: Next-generation Zobels tackle bicentennial Ayala game plan

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MANILA, Philippines — Before Jaime Urquijo and Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala both took their leadership seats at the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate, the cousins were part of different teams battling it out with other countries.

It was not a team that required perfectly tailored suits or rushing to a meeting to seal a multibillion-peso deal.

Instead, the two Jaimes of Ayala Corp.—both eighth-generation scions of the storied Zobel clan—donned muddy jerseys and ran across a rugby field playing for the Philippine Volcanoes.

“It was a really special time in my life, so as a 21-year-old, getting to represent the Philippines was awesome,” Urquijo, Ayala’s chief sustainability and risk officer, says during the conglomerate’s media night.

“And I had hair, which is also fantastic,” the 36-year-old son of Bea Zobel Jr. quips.

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Standing at least 6 feet tall, Urquijo was among the Philippine Volcanoes who charged against India at the 2010 Asian Five Nations.

 

The Philippine team managed to clinch the championship title, making it one of Urquijo’s “huge” life moments and favorite memories—even if the media had already dismissed them as underdogs.

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READ: Find out what makes the players of the Philippine Volcanoes so hot

“The press had sort of completely written us off, and this is really one of the first times as a team that we came together, but we ended up winning the game,” he recalls. “And it was very, very hard-fought in Delhi.”

While Jaime Alfonso “retired” from all the tackling in traditional rugby, he has a knack for its “tamer” counterpart: touch rugby.

The 33-year-old CEO of ACMobility likes to brush it off, but Urquijo points out that his cousin is still part of the national team, meaning, he gets to represent the Philippines at the World Cup.

This is a “huge, huge deal” in touch rugby. Zobel himself has played against New Zealand, considered the No. 1 team in the world when it comes to one of his favorite sports.

“Never in my life did I think I would ever play a New Zealand national rugby team, but by retiring and getting into touch rugby, I was able to insert myself into our first international touch rugby game,” says the son of Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. “It was heavily featured on my Instagram, but no scores,” he adds with a smile.

But rugby is just one of the various other sports the two Jaimes play—basketball and golf, for instance—but the close-contact team sport had been something pivotal for the next-generation leaders of the Philippine corporate world.

“When you’re in a team, you’re forced to confront conflict. You’re supposed to provide solutions to relationships that have conflict. You’re aligned with teams that have a single goal in mind,” Zobel says.

READ: Next-generation Zobel named among WEF’s 2024 Young Global Leaders

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The real score

The all-around athletes themselves recognize the mindset that playing team sports can bring to a business house as big as Ayala. Zobel notes that they introduced Atletang Ayala precisely because of this belief.

As the name suggests, the conglomerate employs around 20 athletes who are permitted to work part time for full time pay, especially considering they are Olympic hopefuls.

Synergy, a key component of team sports, is also a vital characteristic of the 191-year-old company that has interests in various industries, including banking, real estate, telecommunications and renewable energy.

As Urquijo puts it, their generation now has “a big responsibility” to unlock this synergy.

And as Ayala navigates the next decade toward its 200th year, it is anchoring its growth momentum on weaving together the strengths of its core and emerging businesses.

“We’re nine years away from the year 200. We really feel that our core portfolio will carry us to a leadership position by the year 200. But to differentiate and separate ourselves further, synergy needs to be a big part of our strategy,” Zobel says.

He notes that the Ayala portfolio has been developed precisely to tackle big national pain points.

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READ: Next-gen tycoon upholds Ayala legacy of steward leadership

“As we want to separate ourselves over the next nine to 10 years or so, we do feel we need to get closer to the consumer. One of the advantages that we have is we can use strategic assets in place that are close to the consumer,” Zobel says.

ACMobility, for example, has been investing in real estate assets to ensure adequate space for electronic vehicle charging stations and other service provider products.

Urquijo also cites the fact that they are leveraging the expertise of 1,400 employees under the group’s analytics team, which spans all of Ayala’s companies and subsidiaries, to use data to solve challenges.

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“When we take a little bit of a step back and look at the 190-year history that this company has had, and we use that as a lens to look at the next 10 and 20 years, we’re in a unique country that has huge potential,” Urquijo says.

“A lot of opportunities will be unlocked and we’re very excited to play our part to help the country in this journey.” INQ