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The global communications and media intelligence platform, Cision, announced the appointment of Antony Cousins as Executive Director of AI Strategy, effective immediately.
Cousins joined Cision through the acquisition of Factmata in November 2022. He is an accredited public relations practitioner who honed his PR and communications expertise in a variety of roles in UK Government organizations, including the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and Cabinet Office. Notably, Cousins provided press relations for British Forces deployed in Afghanistan, worked in counterterrorism and in strategy across the Middle East during the Arab Spring or "social media revolutions."
After his period of public sector service, inspired by the power of social media, Cousins spent a decade in artificial intelligence technology leadership roles, including serving as the CEO of Factmata, an AI marketing technology company focused on identifying fake news and other forms of harmful online content.
In the newly created role of Executive Director for AI Strategy, Cousins will be responsible for advancing Cision's AI strategy. This agenda includes rapidly integrating Factmata's technologies for detecting harmful online content and narrative monitoring into Cision's new products and platforms. He will also oversee the development of powerful generative text–driven solutions with the reliability that corporate, government and agency communications teams demand, and will ensure that Cision continues to develop AI solutions responsibly and ethically, ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks emerging in the US, UK, Europe and beyond.
Cousins will also be playing a role in amplifying the communications industry's perspective in AI working groups through his recent appointment as co-chair of the Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications (AMEC) tech hub. He also has a long-standing role as member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) London Group. Additionally, Cousins is a member of the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence (APPG AI) and, through Factmata, is a founding member of the Credibility Coalition and UK Safety Technology Networks.
These leadership roles will help Cousins ensure that Cision, and the broader communications industry, continues to benefit from the rapid application of revolutionary technologies while respecting and protecting the power of public relations professionals, and the institutions they represent, to shape public dialogue.
Sephora, the world's leading omni-channel prestige beauty retail brand, has appointed Jenny Cheah as the Managing Director of Southeast Asia, Oceania & South Korea. She will report directly to Alia Gogi, President, Sephora Asia.
Jenny's 25-year career with LVMH began as a management trainee at DFS, where she honed her leadership skills and business acumen to oversee different aspects of the business, from merchandising and retail operations to business development and management. Jenny moved to Bulgari where she spent seven years building the brand and leading the growth and expansion of South Asia as its Regional Managing Director and subsequently, as President of Greater China.
Sephora is the only global beauty omni-retailer with approximately 3,000 points of sale across 36 markets. Innovation, a carefully curated product portfolio, industry-leading digital capabilities, and unique customer experiences are the foundation of its success. It launched its first-ever "Store of the Future" in Singapore last year that embodies a new approach to beauty retail by introducing exclusive services, free workshops, and technology details to create a seamless experience for the omni-beauty consumer.
Alibaba Group is undergoing the biggest restructuring in its history with the plan in mind that sooner or later the new subsidiaries will be listed on the stock exchange.
Daniel Zhang remains Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group., but the holding company will be divided into six independently operating subsidiaries with the aim of increasing market capitalization through leaner structures and faster decision-making processes.
The six new business divisions include:
- Cloud Intelligence Group
- Taobao Tmall Commerce Group
- Local Services Group
- Cainiao Smart Logistics
- Global Digital Commerce Group
- Digital Media and Entertainment Group
In addition to the holding company, Zhang himself leads the Cloud Intelligence Group as CEO and thus all cloud and AI activities of Alibaba.
The appointed CEOs of the other subsidiaries are:
- Trudy Dai: Taobao Tmall Commerce Group (Taobao, TMall)
- Yu Yongfu: The Local Services Group (navigation platform Amap, delivery service Ele.me)
- Jiang Fan: The Global Digital Commerce Group (Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol, Daraz, Alibaba.com)
- Fan Luyuan: Digital Media and Entertainment Group (Youku video platform, Alibaba Pictures)
Alibaba was founded by Jack Ma in 1999 and has since then become one of the largest Internet companies in Asia, offerings e-commerce systems such as Alibaba.com, Taobao.com, Tmall.com and Aliexpress.com, financial service providers such as Ant and Alipay, the mapping service amap.com, and several cloud service providers. In 2019, Ma left the company and was succeeded by Daniel Zhang as CEO. The Alibaba Group is based in Hanghzou on the west coast of China.
Daniel Zhang's Taobao Tmall Commerce Group is excluded from an IPO of its own. The creation of the new businesses represents the largest restructuring process in Alibaba's 24-year history.
Valtech, a global digital agency focused on business transformation powered by digital innovation, announced the appointment of Patrick de Moustier as the new Managing Director for the APMENA region. Formerly CEO and Chief of Metaverse for Temasek/Menyala and Managing Director of Accenture Digital, Southeast Asia, Patrick brings years of experience in driving digital transformations and growth for clients across the region.
With several of the world's fastest-growing economies and populous markets in the region, as well as a thriving Millennial and Gen-Z ecosystem, Patrick de Moustier enters this role to help both new and existing clients to improve their operations and drive growth. With extensive expertise in many areas of technology, including AI (Artificial Intelligence), robotics, and large-scale transformation projects across three continents, Patrick is set to be a driving force behind the advancement of Valtech's operations, the growth of the company's existing client base, and the maximization of its influence on new and current clients within APMENA.
In his new role, Patrick de Moustier will report directly to Olivier Padiou while working closely with the leadership teams in both the MENA and APAC regions.
HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC Group) announced the appointment of Anthony Yeung as Vice President – Corporate Business, with immediate effect. He will lead the Group's local ICT corporate business team, including development and implementation of business strategies to further spearhead and facilitate the growth of the business, leveraging HGC's comprehensive digital infrastructure and solutions portfolio. With over two decades of experience, Anthony has demonstrated a proven track record of success in the industry.
In his new and elevated role, Anthony and his team will further empower the ICT business and take advantage of the Group's digital capabilities to expand the market share and cater to the customers' emerging needs for sophisticated and bespoke solutions in the fiercely competitive digital era.
Okta, the leading independent identity provider, announced the appointment of IT and security industry veteran Clarence Cheah as Head of Growth Strategies for Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ).
Cheah will oversee Okta's strategic growth initiatives and drive regional business development and expansion.
Cheah was pivotal to the successful business launch and market expansion in Japan. He has over two decades of experience in the technology industry, leading sales and engineering teams and executing sales strategies to foster business growth. He was most recently Identity Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan for Okta and has also held senior sales leadership and consulting positions at global IT firms, including Oracle, IBM, and Novell.
MetaComp Pte. Ltd. (f.k.a. Cyberdyne Tech Services Pte. Ltd), a major payment Institution licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, announced the appointment of financial services veteran John Kang as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
John will be responsible for leading the strategic planning, implementation, and managing of all the firm's financial activities alongside Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, Dr Bo Bai. John's responsibilities equally extend to MetaComp's parent company, MetaVerse Green Exchange, the Singapore-based green fintech company that provides end-to-end Carbon-as-a-Service solutions, where he will also be taking on the role of CFO.
Prior to joining MetaComp, John served as CFO of EMQ Inc, the leading global payments services firm focused on the digital economy, where he oversaw several functions, including accounting, finance, and treasury functions across multiple markets and subsidiaries. Through his tenure, John also closed the company's Series Seed, Series A, and Series B fundraisings.
With over two decades of experience in the financial services sector in North Asia, John has held senior leadership positions at world-class banking, hedge fund, and corporate advisory firms including Citigroup Global Markets, Citadel Investment Group, and Goldman Sachs.
Medallia, Inc., the global leader in customer and employee experience, has appointed Abhishek Kumar as Head of Sales, ASEAN, Hong Kong & India. In this role, Abhishek will lead Medallia’s efforts to help the company meet the rising demand of the customer experience (CX) sector in ASEAN, which is expected to grow by 17.1% CAGR from 2020 to 2027.
Abhishek is a seasoned sales leader, bringing with him 18 years of experience scaling businesses and building successful multicultural sales teams across diverse Asian markets. Prior to joining Medallia, Abhishek worked with DataRobot, Software AG, and Oracle in leadership roles.
With Abhishek at the helm, Medallia is looking to take its business to the next stage of growth and establish the company’s footprint in new verticals and markets. To this end, Abhishek will be instrumental in building a high-performance sales team, leading the overall go-to-market strategy, and strengthening the partner ecosystem – a key network that will help Medallia extend its reach to new customers who will benefit from its solution and services.
Further, Abhishek will lead the team to deepen relationships with customers in key industries such as telecommunications, hospitality, retail and financial services, among which include: PLDT Inc., Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, 7-Eleven, and PayPal. His team will continue to build on its strong track record to provide exceptional levels of support and drive customer success across the region. Abhishek will report to Denise Miura, Geo Vice President APAC, Medallia.
Workato, a leader in enterprise automation, announced the appointment of Allan Teng as Founder & Senior Advisor for Workato Asia Pacific & Japan, and Amlan Debnath as Managing Director for Workato Asia Pacific & Japan.
The appointments follow Workato's key strategic initiatives to support future growth and build a thriving business focused on its people, partners and customers.
Allan Teng will be moving to Tokyo to head up Workato's expanding business in Japan, while remaining a key pillar of the regional team. He will continue to provide strategic counsel and leadership to the regional business, with an added focus on catalyzing growth in the Japan market as the General Manager and Vice President of Workato Japan. As Workato's founder of the region, Teng built up Workato's presence in Asia Pacific & Japan from the ground up and was instrumental in orchestrating Workato's rapid growth in the region.
In his prior role as Workato's Founder and Managing Director of Asia Pacific & Japan, Teng built a thriving business to onboard key regional customers such as Grab, Gojek and Scoot. Under his leadership, the Asia Pacific & Japan team has delivered 300 per cent year-on-year business growth in the region over the past three years.
Amlan Debnath worked closely with Teng to start Workato's presence in the region with its Customer Success Center. Prior to this appointment, Debnath had been instrumental in Workato's growth as Senior Vice President of Global Field Operations and Customer Success for the past eight years. He has moved to Singapore and will help grow the APJ business from Workato's second headquarters in Singapore.
Debnath is a respected leader in the technology space with extensive experience in strategic planning, software development and business growth and an impressive track record of creating industry-leading products. Over the span of his career, Debnath has driven the growth of top integration and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) products for leading technology companies like TIBCO, Oracle and Salesforce.
Okta, the leading independent identity provider, announced the appointment of Neville Vincent as Vice President for Asia.
Vincent, an information technology industry veteran and senior business executive, will oversee Okta's business operations, deepen partner links, and lead the company's expansion in this region.
Vincent has over two decades of experience in the technology industry, leading and providing strategic direction to drive business growth and capture emerging opportunities throughout Asia Pacific. He recently served as Vice President, Enterprise, Asia Pacific and Japan for Nutanix and has held senior sales leadership roles at Oracle, Hitachi Vantara, and Adduce Technologies.
Landor & Fitch, the world's largest specialist brand and design consultancy, has named Teemu Suviala as its new Chief Creative Officer.
Suviala will take responsibility for Landor & Fitch's award-winning creative teams in studios across more than 20 countries worldwide, working with clients such as Apple, Netflix, Coca-Cola, LEGO and the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Reporting to Jane Geraghty, Global CEO, Teemu will lead the continued expansion and evolution of the company's design offer, with a particular focus on integrating new technologies.
Previously holding creative director roles at agencies including Collins and Wolff Olins, Suviala joins from Meta where he was global head of brand design for its Reality Labs. He and his team worked closely on the company's high-profile rebrand from Facebook, including the naming, branding and visual identity. Alongside this, Suviala led the expansive brand design work in bringing Meta's metaverse concepts to the fore across breakthrough technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. Suviala is an entrepreneur and adventurous designer, bringing over 25 years of creative and management experience. An impressive portfolio includes ground-breaking creative for clients including Amnesty International, Google, Spotify and Uniqlo.
Suviala will be joining Landor & Fitch at the beginning of February, splitting his time between London and New York.
Artifact Labs, a leading Web3 and NFT company based in Hong Kong, announced the appointment of Phillip Pon as CEO.
Pon brings a wealth of experience in the blockchain industry and will take over from Gary Liu who moves onto the company's Board as Founder and Director.
With Pon's hiring, Artifact Labs will accelerate its mission to “Preserve and Connect History” on the blockchain, and the company remains committed to helping organizations embrace Web3 technologies.
Pon was previously the Group Chief Operating Officer for BC Technology Group and President of OSL, a publicly traded digital asset company. In that role, he led day-to-day operations and helped the pioneering crypto trading platform become Hong Kong's first regulated token exchange. Previously, Pon also served as Chief Operating Officer of Lumenix, a global energy services company, and was long-time senior executive at Gerson Lehrman Group across Asia and Europe.
In January, Artifact Labs announced its partnership with celebrated Hong Kong retailer Goods of Desire (G.O.D.) to launch "請: The Invitation" (pronounced cing2 in Cantonese), an NFT project and community for rediscovering Hong Kong through exclusive and reality-bending events, and engagements with the city's most unique characters, all while preserving Hong Kong's most significant historical assets on the blockchain. Artifact Labs will also debut the world's first Metaverse Symphony in May of 2023, in partnership with the world-renowned Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Microsoft announce that Miki Tsusaka has been appointed as the new President of Microsoft Japan.
Tsusaka will lead Microsoft Japan's engagement with its customers and business partners, and be responsible for all of its product, solution, service and support offerings in Japan. She reports to Ahmed Mazhari, President of Microsoft Asia.
Tsusaka joins Microsoft from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she served as a Senior Partner and Managing Director. At BCG, she worked for clients across a wide range of industries in Japan and overseas, helping them to develop and implement growth strategies, improve profitability, redesign organization, and promote digital transformation. She led the expansion of BCG's service areas and established strategic consulting groups specializing in marketing, sales, and pricing strategy development. She also supported BCG's operations as a member of the Executive Committee for two three-year terms and served as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
Tsusaka takes over responsibilities from Ahmed Mazhari, who was the interim President of Microsoft Japan and will return his focus to his position as President of Microsoft Asia.
Kantar, the world's leading marketing data and analytics company, today announce two senior appointments strengthening their leadership in Singapore and Malaysia. As part of the company's leadership in accelerating growth in the region, Jane Ng and Paromeeta (Paro) Mathur Banerjee have been promoted to General Manager of the Insights Divisions for Kantar in Singapore and Malaysia, respectively.
Jane Ng has 18 years of experience in the insights industry across Kantar in Singapore and the Philippines, as well as with clients such as the Coca-Cola Company, developing brand & communication plans and strategic business plans. She is an expert at building great brands and iconic local jewels and is passionate about purposeful brand building. Jane has extensive program design, analytical and advisory experience building meaningfully different brands.
Paro Banerjee has more than 20 years of experience in the insights industry, spanning India and Malaysia. She most recently held the position of Chief Client Officer for Kantar's Insights division in Malaysia. She is a well-known industry leader and is currently President of the Marketing Research Society of Malaysia (MRSM).
AnyMind Group, an end-to-end commerce enablement company, announced the promotion and appointment of Toh Yi Hui to Country Manager, Singapore, where he will lead the company’s country operations across its various products and business lines.
Toh joined AnyMind Group in 2017 as an entry-level Business Development Executive and rose through the ranks over the past six years as the company expanded from the marketing technology space into publisher and creator, e-commerce, manufacturing, logistics and conversational commerce spaces.
Prior to his promotion to Country Manager of Singapore, he was Head of Business Development for Singapore, where he led the company’s sales team for Singapore. He joined AnyMind Group from Kingsmen Creatives, where he was involved in sales and marketing, account servicing and project management.
The appointment of Toh as Country Manager, Singapore, closely follows the appointment of marketing veteran, Rubeena Singh, as Country Manager, India and MENA, by AnyMind Group in early January 2023.
Wootag, a global visual marketing SaaS company providing visual interactive and insights for marketers, has further expanded its global footprint by launching their new operation in India, and appointing Aditya Singh Chauhan as its Country Manager for India.
The expansion builds on the strong client demand Wootag has experienced in the market, helping the clients achieve an average of 500% uplift in the click through to the landing page and over 40% increase in lead generation. The new movement embodies Wootag’ presence and capacity in India, one of the company’s fastest-growing regions in the Asia Pacific market. The company has set an ambitious growth strategy to further develop its India portfolio and strengthen regional partnerships to accelerate its growth in visual marketing. This will also allow the company to better support their clients in its nine operating markets, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and now India
In the new appointment, Aditya will be responsible for leading Wootag’s go-to-market functions, driving client satisfaction and driving Wootag for Ads adoption in India. He comes to Wootag with over 14 years of industry experience working with media houses and AdTech ventures and increasing market share in all segments. His most recent roles include Associate Director of Brand Partnership & Monetization for Myntra and led Business development for Affle.
PropertyGuru Group Limited announced the appointment of Disha Goenka Das as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
As CMO, Disha will oversee the Group’s Brand strategy, corporate communications function, as well as the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) mandate. Disha is part of PropertyGuru's Group Leadership Team and will report to CEO and Managing Director, Hari V. Krishnan.
Disha is a seasoned executive having led strategic marketing and communications teams and cross-functional work streams for some of the most well-known tech companies in the world, working extensively across 30+ markets in Asia, Europe, Latin America & the Americas. Most recently, Disha served as the Senior Global Director of Marketing at Twitter where she led global strategy and built Twitter’s business brand globally. Previously, Disha spent a decade at Google where in her last role she was Head of Ad Product Commercialization for Asia Pacific.
Disha’s appointment follows the Group’s announcement of its brand repositioning that places guidance at its core – “Where every step of your journey will be guided by Guru.” With over 17 years of deep brand experience and expertise in marketing, Disha will help accelerate the Group’s growth trajectory across the five markets – Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia – as it creates Southeast Asia’s Trust Platform for property. Disha will also build the ESG mandate for the Group and focus on creation of long-term financial and social value for stakeholders by integrating material ESG issues into company strategy.
She will lead the Brand, Communications, ESG teams, and spearhead experiences across all offline and digital channels by taking forward the new brand positioning that reflects a strategic evolution in the Group’s growth to move beyond property search to offering end-to-end property solutions for consumers, agents, developers, bankers, valuers and city planners.
BeLive Technology, a leading solutions provider of live and video commerce technology, announced that Sunil Nair has been named as President.
This new addition is set to strengthen its current management team as the company prepares for a new growth plan globally.
Sunil has over 15 years of senior management experience, including a decade of strategic development and plan execution at global video and technology companies, most recently as Managing Director APAC Region & CEO, Firework India. Before that, Sunil served as Chief Operating Officer of ALT Digital Media Entertainment Ltd, a digital media and entertainment conglomerate in India.
Sunil received a master’s degree in Management Sciences from the University of Pune and is a certified systems analyst from National Computing Centre, UK. He is a mentor and advisor to early-stage start-ups in India and is an active investor.
Kantar, the world's leading marketing data and analytics company, announced the appointment of Cheong Tai Leung as CEO of its Insights Asia Pacific business.
Reporting to Chris Jansen, Kantar's Chief Executive, Ms Leung will lead Kantar's regional team in growing relationships with some of the world's most dynamic brands; partnering with them as they redefine their growth strategies for the most challenging period in recent history.
Ms Leung takes over the leadership role from Wayne Levings, who will now focus exclusively on his role as Kantar's Chief Client Officer.
Most recently, Ms Leung served as Regional President, Asia Pacific at GfK, responsible for driving transformation, growth and profitability for the company's portfolio that included market intelligence and digital solutions across the region. During her 5-year tenure at GfK, Cheong Tai successfully built relationships across the region and profitably grew the APAC business year-on-year.
Before GfK, Cheong Tai was with The Nielsen Company for 9 years. She joined in 2008 as Chief Operating Officer before becoming the Region President in 2010, responsible for Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa markets. Prior to Nielsen, Cheong Tai held leadership roles at GE Consumer Finance and GE Healthcare.
Ms Leung will take up her leadership role in the first half of 2023.
HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC Group) announced the appointment of Alvin Wong as Chief Operating Officer – ICT Business, Solutions and Product, with immediate effect.
He will oversee the end-to-end ICT business management of HGC Group and lead the team to further enrich the ICT and digital solution portfolio in local and overseas market, meeting the emerging needs in today's competitive digital world.
In this advancing role, Alvin will spearhead the growth of Group's ICT Business, focusing on its strategic direction and implementation, as well as oversee the day-to-day operations. This appointment has also highlighted HGC's commitment and continuous development in ICT solutions, leveraging the Group's comprehensive digital infrastructure, local and global telecom coverage and commitment from investors.
Alvin is a 30-year veteran of the ICT and telecommunications industries. Prior to this new role, he served as Executive Vice President of Solutions and Product Development of HGC Group, leading the solutions, product, and presales units. He has also served as Commercial Director of HGC Group's Macroview Telecom, one of the largest Hong Kong-headquartered digital technology solution and managed service providers, since 2020. He has been acknowledged for the development of the firm's Managed Security Platform and market-leading one-stop solutions for managed cloud services.
Ogury, the global leader in personified advertising, today announced the promotion of former COO Geoffroy Martin to the position of Chief Executive Officer.
Former Ogury CEO Thomas Pasquet, who co-founded the company and served in the role for eight years, will transition to Chairman of the Board. In this role, he will help promote Ogury's mission and vision externally.
Martin has over 25 years of experience in tech companies. Prior to joining Ogury, he was General Manager and Executive Vice President of Growth Portfolio at Criteo, where he created and significantly grew the retail media division. Before that, he was CEO of Art.com, which he grew to become the world's largest online art retailer. In his new role, Martin will lead the entire company, setting and executing Ogury's strategy, mission, vision and culture to accelerate its worldwide expansion.
Since its inception, Ogury's vision has been to deliver the highest-performing digital advertising technology anchored in privacy protection. A philosophy that was ahead of its time, enabling it to become a key global AdTech player as the industry evolved into three distinct groups. Beyond the walled gardens and retailers, and those who still deliver cookie and ID-based campaigns, it is the open Internet players, who leverage cookie-less and ID-less technologies, that will grow and thrive.
This third group is led by Ogury and its Personified Advertising Engine, calling on personas and the destination where they consume content instead of users' identity. In 2023, the company has ambitious plans to continue to grow its existing markets, pursue its international growth, and enter new markets.
Rockwell Automation, the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, has appointed Mariya Prempeh as country manager for Singapore, effective immediately.
Mariya will be responsible for the company's business operations and direct sales in the country. She reports to Marcelo Tarkieltaub, regional director for Southeast Asia, Rockwell Automation.
Mariya has more than 10 years of experience in sales and marketing, working with enterprises across the globe in various technology sectors. Prior to joining Rockwell Automation, she was the Singapore general manager for Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon. At Leica Geosystems, she was responsible for creating a diverse high-performing team and helping the company achieve strong financial growth despite the pandemic. Mariya was also formerly with Hilti Corporation, a multinational company that develops, manufactures, and markets products for the construction, building maintenance, energy, and manufacturing industries.
Rockwell Automation has been in Asia Pacific for over 40 years and continues to invest in its vision of expanding human possibility and digital transformation for its customers across the region. With over 4,800 dedicated employees in the region and a robust ecosystem of partners collaborating towards delivering value for our customers, Rockwell Automation continues to transform the industry, unlocking potential and productivity through automated and connected innovation.
