Karen Agustiawan had her tenure as CEO of PT Pertamina (the Indonesian state owned oil company) extended for a further five years in June this year. In recent years most of her predecessors have not even completed a full term and it has been decades since a CEO at Pertamina has been reappointed. This is a major vote of confidence in Agustiawan’s efforts to turn Pertamina into a truly global player. Having studied engineering physics, Agustiawan kicked off her career with Mobil Oil in Indonesia and the US and only joined Pertamina in 2006 following several years at Halliburton. There is no doubting her technical ability and strategic thinking, but we feel it has been her focus on the human capital at Pertamina that will turn the company into a global player. The mission she has set for Pertamina over the next five years is ambitious saying, ‘Pertamina must be able to contribute at least 50 percent of the country’s total production’. The past five years have given Agustiawan the time to create a team strong enough to make the big decisions needed to achieve this target. With Pertamina extending its reach on a global basis the Company has a leader with experience, courage and the skill to transform.