With a background in Economics, Shahril has developed a multi sector profile in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

He climbed the political ladder in Malaysia, and was until late 2022 the Head of Communications for Malaysia’s oldest political party. In a career in public life spanning 10 years, he had also served in government as the Economic Director in the Prime Ministers Office (2021-2022).

But Shahril was not a career politician, and has had stints as
• A management consultant with McKinsey serving clients across Southeast Asia (2011-2014)
• A CEO managing the mid-sized Malaysian energy services company Destini Oil with footprint in Southeast Asia and the Middle East (2014-2018)
• A private markets advisor currently, as founder of Watchtower Advisory, alongside a role as Senior Advisor at GP Bullhound, a global tech advisory and investment fund. (2023 - present)
• A communicator as co-host of Malaysia’s current top current issues podcast Keluar Sekejap (2023-present)
• A geopolitical analyst on Southeast Asian affairs as a Visiting Fellow at Singapore’s Rajaratnam School of International Studies (2023)

Since January 2023, Shahril has stepped out of politics, but continues to leverage the varied insights and roles he developed in the past decade to deliver impact via Watchtower and beyond. He actively seeks opportunities to engender cross-cultural and cross-border understanding crucial to meet the global challenges of the moment and capitalise on collaboration opportunities, especially given Southeast Asia’s strategic position in the context of de-risking, multipolarity and Great Power Competition.

Shahril holds a BA in Economics from the University of Manchester (2008) and an MSc in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Studies, LSE (2011) where he also won the Hobhouse Memorial Prize for graduating top of his class that year.