Top 10: Technology Leaders in APAC
The Asia-Pacific technology sector stands at an inflection point in 2024, as infrastructure modernisation collides with mounting pressures for digital transformation. Regional telecommunications providers are racing to monetise 5G investments while cloud providers expand their data centre footprints across Southeast Asia's emerging markets. The acceleration of AI deployment has reshaped technology roadmaps, particularly in financial services and manufacturing sectors, where edge computing and machine learning applications are moving from pilots to production.
Amid this shifting landscape, this week Technology Magazine highlights the Top 10 technology leaders in the APAC region.
10: Ayush Sharma
Role: CTO, StarHub
Location: Singapore
Ayush Sharma joined StarHub as Chief Technology Officer after serving as Vice President and Head of Metaverse & Edge Platforms Business at Rakuten USA. His work at Cisco, Ericsson and Huawei involved developing network solutions for more than 30 operators globally. Ayush holds an MSc in Data Communications from Brunel University London and completed Stanford's Executive Management programme. He co-developed the "Latency-as-a-service" architecture at MotoJeannie.
9: Melanie Perkins
Role: CEO & Co-founder, Canva
Location: Australia
Co-founding the online visual communication platform Canva in 2013, Melanie Perkins is an Australian entrepreneur and one of the youngest female CEOs of a technology startup.
Owning an estimated 18% of the company, she has been responsible for building one of the world’s most valuable privately owned companies, with the software reportedly attracting 130 million monthly users.
8: Roshni Nadar
Role: Chairperson, HCL Technologies
Location: India
As Chair of HCL Technologies, one of the world’s leading technology companies, since 2020, Roshni Nadar Malhotra is the first female chairperson of a leading IT company listed in India. She is also CEO of the holding company HCL Corporation.
She has been listed in Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women for three years and was recognised by Horasis as the Indian Business Leader of the Year 2019. She is an inspirational speaker and leads numerous philanthropic initiatives.
7: Randeep Sekhon
Role: CTO, Airtel
Location: India
Randeep Singh Sekhon serves as Chief Technology Officer at Airtel India and South Asia, where he manages the company's network infrastructure spanning 2G through 5G technologies. Randeep transitioned to this role from his previous position as CEO of Hutchison Tri Indonesia, where he led the company's digitalisation programme. His responsibilities encompass network operations, technology strategy and infrastructure planning across Airtel's mobile, fixed-line and DTH services.
6: Thomas Hundt
Role: Group Chief Strategy & Technology Officer, Axiata
Location: Malaysia
Thomas Hundt became Axiata Group's Chief Strategy & Technology Officer in October 2021, following his role as Executive Vice President for Technology. Thomas previously served as CEO of Smart Axiata in Cambodia from 2008, where he orchestrated the company's growth through acquisitions including Star-Cell in 2011 and Hello Axiata in 2013. His career includes positions at Siemens AG's Communication Division and Nokia Siemens Networks.
5: Jorge Fernandes
Role: Group CTO, Singtel
Location: Singapore
Jorge Fernandes stepped into the role of Singtel Group Chief Technology Officer in June 2023, with additional responsibilities as acting MD for Optus Networks from April 2024. His appointment follows a tenure at Rogers Communications, where he spearheaded Canada's 5G network deployment. Jorge previously spent 15 years at Vodafone, culminating in the position of UK Chief Technology Officer. He chaired the board of CTIL, the tower infrastructure venture between Vodafone and Telefonica. Jorge holds a licentiate in economics and business management from the Autonomous University of Lisbon.
4: Mei May Soo
Role: Chief of AI Global Solution Specialist at Dell Technologies
Location: Singapore
Based in Singapore, Mei May Soo has worked with Dell Technologies for more than four years and is well-versed in data and analytics. She currently leads the AI/ML initiative in Global Presales at Dell Technologies, which involves working closely with customers to solve problems scientifically and objectively.
Mei May's work highlights how Dell Technologies continues to embed and deploy AI across businesses. A recent example is where her team designed and built a Deep Learning model that recognises and identifies different types of corals as part of conservation efforts of the Great Barrier Reef.
3: Mohit Kapoor
Role: Group CTO at Mahindra Group
Location: India
A business technology leader with more than 30 years of experience across industries, with the last 20 years focused on innovation, digital technology, process & product quality, company culture and customer experience, Mohit Kapoor currently leads digital transformation efforts at the Mahindra Group.
Mohit is responsible for driving Mahindra Group’s ambitious technology transformation agenda and working closely with the company’s businesses to leverage new and emerging technologies to create new business models and transform customer experiences. He also chairs the AI and digital technology committee at FICCI.
2: Jingren Zhou
Role: Chief Technology Officer at Alibaba Cloud
Location: China
Specialising in cloud computing, database systems and machine learning, Jingren Zhou joined Alibaba Cloud in 2015 as VP and has served as CTO since 2022. He studied computer science in both China and the United States and completed his doctorate at Columbia University.
Jingren manages several core technical divisions to drive company intelligent infrastructure and applications in e-commerce and cloud business, including leading the big data and AI computing divisions. Prior to joining Alibaba Cloud, he worked as a manager at Microsoft for 11 years.
1: Andrea Della Mattea
Role: President ASEAN, Microsoft
Location: Singapore
Andrea Della Mattea, President of Microsoft ASEAN, directs the company's operations across 15 ASEAN nations. Since her appointment in 2017, Andrea has expanded Microsoft's presence in markets ranging from established technology hubs to emerging digital economies.
Andrea and her team enable businesses of all sizes to embrace technology as a platform for continuous innovation and inclusive economic growth. Andrea has more than 25 years of experience in the technology sector and is an enthusiastic advocate for inclusivity. That includes encouraging girls in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), supporting women in leadership roles and enhancing the employability of people with disabilities.
Before joining Microsoft in 2017, she served in a series of senior leadership roles at Insight Enterprises & Software Spectrum in North America and APAC, including her most recent role as Asia Pacific Managing Director, where she advocated technology-driven business outcomes transformational leadership, digital acceleration and business empowerment.
Andrea's engineering background includes a first-class honours degree from James Cook University, where she now serves on the advisory board. In 2022, the university awarded her an honorary doctorate in engineering. Andrea holds positions as an independent non-executive director at The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and serves on the board of Meals on Wheels NSW.
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