Scott Russell (SAP)
SAP is gearing up for a changing of the guard within its Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) business, with the company set to see current APJ president Scott Russell move into a global role.
Russell, who hails from Australia but is currently based in Singapore, has headed up the company's operations across APJ since 2017. He was previously president and managing director of Southeast Asia and the vendor's chief operating officer for the APJ region.
Under his leadership, the company's APJ operation has evolved to become one of its fastest-growing cloud markets globally.
Now, Russell has become the newest member of SAP’s global executive board, set to head up the company's largest board remit, Customer Success, from the beginning of February. The Customer Success organisation, which Russell will lead, includes SAP’s global sales, services and customer engagement organisation.
As such, Russell will be responsible for SAP’s business across the globe with a focus on the success of over 440,000 customers and nearly 40,000 employees
In this role, Russell will succeed Adaire Fox-Martin, who will depart the company at the end of the month.
The move will see Russell become the first Australian to join SAP's board, and the first SAP board member to be based in Asia, where he is set to remain, evidently.
Russell, who brings more than 20 years of experience in sales, management, consulting and technology to his new role, will continue to evolve SAP’s sales and services strategy.
“I am honoured and would like to thank the Supervisory Board for putting trust in me," Russell said. “With our industry-leading team, I will build on the great foundation laid by Adaire, who has my deepest respect for the leadership and foresight she demonstrated during our many years of close collaboration.
"Our future is bright, driving and accelerating the strategic digital transformation of our customers around the world,” he added.
SAP is yet to declare publicly who Russell's replacement might be. But if Russell's own history, which saw him act as the company's COO before eventually becoming APJ lead, is anything to go by, the company's current COO for APJ, Paul Marriot, might be a shoe-in for the job.
Marriot would certainly be a worthy candidate, having held the COO role from Singapore since 2016, when he took over the job from Russell.
An SAP veteran of more than 12 years with the vendor, Marriot has previously held various roles, including that of regional president of digital core, APJ.
