Achaphol “Pinaki” Sachathamakul—entrepreneur, technologist, and lifelong builder, and Founder & CEO of Brandface—has spent a decade transforming how brands engage, scale, and innovate.
Now, spearheading Affi Connect and its AI agent, Lisa, he’s rewriting the rules of advanced business development, all while staying grounded in family, passion, and purpose.
In other words, he’s the man you want on the pulse of the ever-changing, accelerated highway of technology, where he bridges people to their potential in the frontier of AI-powered business development.
From producing content for the world’s biggest brands to creating AI-driven tools reshaping B2B outreach, his career is a testament to versatility and vision.
His recent achievements include being awarded Asia’s Greatest CEO (2022–2023) by AsiaOne, the Entrepreneur Excellence Award (2024) at the Wiki Finance Expo, and Affi Network placing in the Top 100 Start-in-Block during Paris Blockchain Week—a significant recognition within the Web3 and blockchain community.
With these accolades in mind, we had the pleasure of speaking to Pinaki about balancing ambition with family, embracing new technologies, and why the best ideas often emerge both on and off the clock. This is the mindset that keeps him moving forward.
Where did the journey begin?
“I’m a fourth-generation Thai-Indian who grew up in Bangkok with amazing friends, family, and neighbours. I shared a room with my younger brother, and we spent most of our childhood kicking a football.
Not to mention, we were also in a band and had a drum set in our bedroom.
When my sister was born 12 years later, the family dynamic shifted in the best way—we were celebrating Christmas, having game nights, and doing more things together. As you can imagine, we’re quite tight-knit.”
He spent 12 years at Ruamrudee International School, completing the IB Diploma, before studying Entertainment Media Production at Mahidol University International College (MUIC), followed by a short program at Deakin University.
Since then, he has spent the past decade building businesses across media, B2B services, and technology. Today, he is married with a young son who has become a major source of motivation. The connection to family remains vital.
You’ve dabbled in various industries over your career. Could you briefly explain each phase?
“I’ve always enjoyed building things.
In high school, that meant running a summer soccer camp with a friend. In university, it became an organiser of themed events—one of which unexpectedly crossed 1,000 tickets.
Alongside events, I was studying film and producing freelance work that led to opportunities with Diageo, National Geographic, History Channel, Amazing Race (2001–), and several large-scale TVCs.
After university, I built a production company that created content for brands like Apple, Netflix, and Airbnb.”
From there, he launched Brandface, initially a nano-influencer platform that helped thousands of university students and first-jobbers earn income by collaborating with brands like Decathlon, Flash Express, and LocknLock.
That eventually grew into the broader Affi ecosystem, now including Affi Network (a blockchain loyalty tool) and Affi Connect, the AI-powered networking platform introducing Lisa, an AI agent for B2B teams.
“Each chapter taught me how to build, sell, understand users, and operate at different scales.”
You’ve built a strong track record across B2B, marketing, and technology ventures. What early experiences steered you in this direction?
“For over a decade as a B2B founder, I lived the pain of outbound—constantly networking, running manual campaigns, doing follow-ups, and searching for the right prospects. So much of that work was repetitive and clearly automatable.
We started by building Affi Connect as a networking app to improve business matching.
As AI progressed, we realised we could take it much further. That’s how Lisa was born—an AI BDR (Artificial Intelligence Business Development Representative) who can research millions of profiles, identify the right prospects, and autonomously start conversations that lead to booked meetings.
We built her because we needed her. Once we saw her effectiveness, we knew other B2B teams would eventually adopt the same model.”
Could you explain Affi Connect and Lisa in the simplest terms?
Affi Connect is a networking app built for B2B companies.
Inside the app, Lisa acts as your AI agent, similar to how Siri supports Apple users—but designed specifically for outbound and business development.
Lisa researches prospects, initiates conversations, and fills your calendar with qualified meetings.
“In early usage, we’ve seen her deliver outcomes that outperform traditional workflows by 5 to 10 times.
Our vision is that every B2B team will eventually have an AI BDR working alongside them. We’re building Affi Connect to house that end-to-end experience and aim to bring Lisa to thousands of companies globally.”
How does working with major brands differ from working with agile startups?
Large brands move more slowly, operate with bigger budgets, and give creative teams more room to execute.
Startups move fast, push boundaries, and challenge you in ways large organisations don’t.
Both environments shaped him. Big brands taught structure and clarity; startups taught speed, focus, and customer obsession.
“These lessons directly influenced how we designed Affi Connect and Lisa—simple, fast, and outcome-driven.”
What has been your biggest challenge and biggest achievement so far?
“One of the biggest challenges was selling enterprise products in the crypto industry, where market shifts, regulatory changes, and volatility could impact decisions overnight. It taught us resilience and pushed us to expand our focus to all B2B companies, not just crypto.”
His biggest achievement: building ventures that have supported hundreds of global brands—from Apple to Netflix to Decathlon—and using those experiences to develop technologies that solve broader problems.
“It gave me a strong foundation in understanding users, building marketing systems, and executing at scale.”
With AI accelerating rapidly, how has it affected your work in the Web3 space?
“AI has become central to how we build.
At the same time, Web3 has matured into a powerful transparency layer rather than a surface-level feature. Most businesses aren’t specifically looking for ‘AI’ or ‘Web3’—they’re looking for better outcomes.
For us, AI is the intelligence layer and Web3 is the trust layer. We use both where they make sense, but the user’s experience and results come first.”
How do you stay grounded amid intense work and challenges?
“I’m a big Manchester United fan. I watch almost every game, even when it hurts.
At home, I keep an acoustic guitar in the living room and often pick it up for a few minutes, sometimes with my son listening.
I used to play a lot of football, but recently padel has taken over.
Most importantly, I schedule family time. It’s easy to get consumed by work, and having that balance helps me show up better as a founder. Some of my best ideas come when I’m not thinking about business at all.”
How have your family and friends supported you?
“My parents gave me the freedom to explore, shaping my entrepreneurial mindset.
My siblings have always supported me—my brother joining as a tech advisor and my sister joining as an intern.
We’ve done commercial deals where several referrals and investments came from friends and family.
My wife has been a huge supporter and sounding board through every high and low.
And although my son doesn’t know it yet, he is a strong motivator—a reminder of why building something meaningful matters.”
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in Thailand and Southeast Asia?
“I still have a long way to go, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that mindset is everything.
Believe you can, adapt when things don’t go your way, and keep moving forward.
The habit that makes a real difference is staying close to customers. Almost every great product—Instagram, YouTube, even Play-Doh—evolved because founders listened and iterated.
There’s no perfect formula, but resilience, adaptability, and customer obsession significantly increase your chances.”