Indra Kantono

The architect of modern Asian hospitality

Indra Kantono stands as one of the most influential figures in contemporary Asian hospitality because his success is rooted not simply in cocktails, but in culture, leadership and the architecture of crafting experiences. As co-founder and managing director of Jigger & Pony Group, he helped transform a Singapore cocktail bar opened in 2012 into an internationally recognised hospitality business. The flagship bar has appeared regularly on Asia's 50 Best Bars and The World's 50 Best Bars lists, as well as spawning a host of sibling venues around Asia, including BOP, Gibson and Pop City in Singapore and Cosmo Pony in Jakarta.

Kantono's meteoric career trajectory is particularly surprising given that he did not come from a traditional bartending background. Engineering training and stints in consultancy and business carved his knowledge of management and structure and honed his sense of leadership into a tried-and-tested recipe for sustainable hospitality that manages to feel as organic as it does organised.

Rather than seeing a bar as a place defined only by products, Kantono treats hospitality as an organisation-wide discipline. This gives his work a broader relevance: Jigger & Pony is not just a successful cocktail brand, but a case study in how service businesses can build durable value through people, purpose and consistency.

A central theme in Kantono's philosophy is that company culture must be deliberately designed. His emphasis on values such as "deliver wow through hospitality" and "a Pony never lets another Pony fail" demonstrates that culture according to Kantono is a practical operating system rather than a decorative mission statement. These values influence hiring, training, promotion and daily decision-making, meaning in a world where hospitality businesses often struggle with high staff turnover and inconsistent service, the Jigger & Pony Group's model argues that you can still create environments where employees feel supported, empowered and accountable.

His influence has extended beyond his own venues via talks, interviews and mentorship that champion a more sustainable hospitality industry. He advocates creating careers rather than temporary jobs, developing future leaders and building systems that allow businesses to scale without losing their identity, all the while supported by his powerhouse partner and co-founder of the Jigger & Pony Group, his wife Guoyi Gan, who has been instrumental in translating the company's purpose into the guest experience.

Together, they have shown how people-first leadership and continuous improvement can turn a bar from a great place to drink into a respected institution. By investing in people, Kantono has turned hospitality from a set of service standards into a shared mindset, elevating Singapore's cocktail culture along the way. For this and much more, Indra Kantono has been awarded the Roku Industry Icon Award 2026 as a part of Asia's 50 Best Bars.

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