By Kritagya Regmi
For Mr. Nattawut Kreangkraileard, learning has never really had an ending point. He often compares himself to software, something that needs regular updates to stay useful and keep improving.
“I consider myself like software,” he says. “Software can become outdated, so we need to update the software, update the version. I think people are the same.”
That idea has shaped much of his life. Over the years, Nattawut has worked in the private sector and public service, studied business and law, explored technology and artificial intelligence, developed a passion for art, mentored younger generations, and continued searching for new things to learn. More than a decade after completing his MBA at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), he has now returned to AIT as a PhD student.
His journey has not followed one straight path. Instead, each stage has led him to a new question, skill, or a challenge. Looking back, he says many of the values that still guide him were shaped during his time at AIT.
Finding his place at AIT
Before joining AIT, Nattawut studied industrial psychology and began his career in export sales. His first job quickly showed him how much he still needed to learn about business.
“I had no business background,” he recalls. “Sometimes my colleagues were talking about business and I did not really understand what they were talking about.”
Rather than hiding that gap, he decided to learn. He looked for an international MBA program in Thailand to improve his business and management skills, and eventually found AIT. The challenge was not only academic. At the time, he was not confident in his English and sometimes struggled to understand professors or express himself in class. There were moments when he questioned whether he was ready for such an international environment.
What stayed with him most was the encouragement he received from his professors and classmates. “AIT gave me a ‘don’t give up’ mindset,” he says. “My classmates and professors encouraged me to continue fighting and keep my chin up. That mindset has stayed with me until today.”
AIT taught him finance, management, strategy, and business, but it also taught him how to keep going when things became difficult. That lesson became even stronger during the major flooding in 2011 that affected AIT, when students had to leave campus and temporarily continue their studies in Hua Hin.
“No matter how difficult life is, you have to find your balance and keep going,” he says. “When you are tired, you can walk. When you have energy, you can run. But you keep moving.”
Reaching a goal, then asking what came next
After graduating from AIT, Nattawut moved into the private sector, including at IBM. The experience exposed him to different projects, clients, and ways of working . One lesson that stayed with him was the importance of putting the customer first. Project management also taught him to organize complicated work into smaller, manageable steps.
At the time, he had a clear goal: to become a manager before the age of 30. He achieved it at 28. But reaching the goal made him ask another question: “What should I do next?”
He recalled that his MBA at AIT was funded by a Royal Thai Government Scholarship. “I believed I had achieved that milestone thanks to a scholarship from the Royal Thai Government,” he explains. “So I asked myself, why not give back to Thailand?” This question motivated him to transition from the private sector to public service.
He later joined a special government development program, learned from senior officials and leaders, and gradually built a career covering government management, policy, legal reform, and transformation.
The private-sector mindset stayed with him, but with one important change. “I change the customer to the citizen,” he says. For Nattawut, public service means putting citizens first and finding ways for government systems and processes to serve them better.
Using technology to solve simple problems
Nattawut has tried to bring technology into his work, but he doesn’t only see digital transformation as large or complex systems. Sometimes, he says, meaningful change starts with a simple problem.
In one case, training records in his department were stored mainly in PDFs. The information existed, but searching or analyzing it was difficult. If someone asked whether a person had attended a course, where they worked, or which project they had completed, staff had to search through many documents.
Nattawut moved the information into structured spreadsheets and later created a searchable dashboard. Staff could then type a name and quickly find what they needed. “Technology does not always need to be complicated,” his approach suggests. It simply needs to make work better.
“When we can answer faster, it becomes more convenient for people, and it also makes our work more professional,” he says.
He applies a similar method to policy and legal work. Instead of beginning with complicated laws and official language, he first asks: What is the actual problem? What are the possible solutions? Only then does he return to the legal framework and prepare recommendations for senior decision-makers.
His recent bachelor’s degree in law has strengthened this approach.
“When we combine the problem-solving mindset with the legal mindset, we can solve problems in a better way,” he says.
Connecting different kinds of knowledge
Looking at Nattawut’s academic and professional background, the subjects can appear unrelated at first. Industrial psychology, business, law, computer science, artificial intelligence, public policy, and art do not naturally look like parts of the same career.
For him, however, that is exactly what makes them useful.
Psychology helps him understand people and behavior. Business supports management and decision-making. Law provides structure and rules. Technology can improve speed and access to information. Art brings creativity and a different way of looking at problems.
“The disciplines are different, like individual human beings,” he says. “But I need to make them work together like teamwork. I call that art.”
The important skill, he believes, is not simply collecting knowledge but knowing when and how to connect it.
“Today, one problem cannot always be solved by only one discipline,” he says.
Discovering art in an unexpected place
Art entered Nattawut’s life unexpectedly. During a stressful meeting filled with disagreement, he began doodling lines and shapes on paper. As he drew, he noticed his stress becoming lighter.
“Peace came into my mind,” he recalls. “It was like meditation.”
He later began exploring watercolor painting more seriously. Art became a way to calm his mind and regain focus.
“When my mind is not stable, art helps make it stable again,” Nattawut says. “When the mind is calm, we can create solutions for professional and personal problems.”
Art also taught him about feedback. Once, he felt embarrassed to show a watercolor painting to his mentor because he thought it was not good enough. His mentor told him not to ask whether the painting was good or bad, but instead to identify what looked wrong, learn from it, and apply the lesson to the next painting.
“Feedback keeps our work improving,” he says.
He eventually became a registered artist with Thailand’s Ministry of Culture and received international recognition for his work. But for him, the more important lesson remains the process of accepting feedback and trying again.
Returning to AIT
Nattawut’s relationship with AIT did not end when he graduated. Over the years, he remained connected with the Institute and became involved in mentoring students and younger alumni.
Part of that desire to give back comes from remembering how he felt when he first arrived at AIT. He doubted his English and sometimes questioned his place in the classroom, but believes AIT gave him an opportunity to grow.
“AIT gave me an opportunity,” he says. “So when I graduated and reached where I am today, I felt that I should contribute back to AIT as well.”
He does not believe that mentoring means telling people exactly what they should do. Instead, he begins by listening.
“I need to talk with them first and understand what they want and what I can give them,” he says.
He does not believe mentors should tell people exactly what to do. Instead, they can help young people see their choices more clearly.
“A mentor can be like a compass,” he says.
He also believes there is no single path for younger generations.
“There is no one-size-fits-all anymore,” he says. “Do what you want to do, but seek mentors. You can have one, two, three, four, or five mentors depending on what you want to learn.”
Now, he has returned to AIT as a PhD student. He expects coursework, professors, and new experiences to help shape his research. He is particularly interested in connecting existing knowledge from a different perspective.
“I hope to connect existing knowledge but look at it from a different perception,” he says. “Maybe that can create a new tool to solve problems.”
For him, it is another software update. Law was one update. Art was another. Technology and AI became others. Even before interviews or presentations, he may study pronunciation or phonetics because he believes there is always something that can be improved.
“I always think, what should I improve next?” he says.
“We always have time”
Despite balancing public service, study, mentoring, art, volunteering, and other responsibilities, Nattawut does not rely on a complicated productivity system.
“Not everything happens at the same time,” he says.
His belief is that people often have more time than they realize, but their attention is divided. When they focus properly on one task, they may complete it faster and move to the next.
He calls this the “we always have time” mindset, being present with what is in front of you and using time for things that help you learn, create, contribute, or grow.
His path through business, technology, government, law, art, and academic life may look unusual, but to Nattawut, every chapter is connected. When he finds something he does not know, he tries to learn it. When something does not work, he tries to understand why. And when he reaches one goal, he begins thinking about the next.
His advice to young people is not to copy his journey, but to find what matters to them, seek mentors, listen to feedback, and continue improving.
His journey at AIT started with him as a student concerned about fitting in. Years later, he returns as an alumnus, mentor, public servant, artist, and PhD student, still viewing himself as a work in progress, continuously learning and growing.
Perhaps that is the point. There is always another version to build, another lesson to learn, and another reason to keep moving forward.
