Jeremy Lim joined Oliver Wyman as an experienced hire in the HLS practice and made significant impact building the business in Asia. With his Oliver Wyman experience and medical background, Lim now has co–founded AMILI, a gut microbiome startup in Singapore.

What have you been doing since you left Oliver Wyman?

Since I’ve left Oliver Wyman, I’ve focused on two things, one of which is co–founding a precision gut microbiome company, AMILI, that is the first commercially focused startup in the Singapore region. I also spend my time as the director of Global Health at the National University of Singapore, where I lead some of the programs funded by the Gates Foundation.

What skills did you acquire at Oliver Wyman that have helped you the most?

One of the main skills I worked on while at Oliver Wyman is the ability to excel at structuring. Being able to break down a complex issue into actionable work streams and components is a universal skill. There is a common saying that goes, “how do you eat an elephant?” Breaking down any task, even something as grandiose as eating an elephant, into small bites makes each task more manageable.

Another skill I prioritized was my potential for making connections. One of the great aspects of working for a multinational consulting firm like Oliver Wyman with many focus areas, is that there’s a lot of lateral learning. Even in a sector as large as healthcare, there are useful lessons to learn from other sectors. For example, healthcare can learn from the financial services industry by asking how do banks share credit information and how can we apply those learning to the digitization of the healthcare system? How do banks complete transactions and share just the right amount information while preserving confidentiality? How can the healthcare industry learn from that? There’s a lot of learnings to make between sectors, and the breadth of a firm like Oliver Wyman exposes you and gives you the opportunity to hone this skill.

Finally, the expertise of harnessing the potential of your colleagues has been a great lesson in leveraging colleagues’ strengths. One of the great things about consulting it that you meet and work with a lot of people from various backgrounds and learn quickly what people are good at/their strengths and how you can leverage that.

What’s your fondest or funniest memory of Oliver Wyman?

Whether it was joining in on adventurous offsites in Thailand or the friendships I made with my colleagues, the memories I have with the people at Oliver Wyman are long–lasting. It’s telling that even after years of not seeing each other, a group of us recently reconnected while in Thailand. The human interactions at Oliver Wyman are something special.

What were you known for when you were at Oliver Wyman?

I believe I took the title as one of the most traveled at the firm. One year, I took over 200 flights! I was also known as the first Singaporean partner at the firm, and the only HLS partner in Asia.

This page was originally published on February 15, 2023