Nevash Pillay (Telstra)
Nevash Pillay has unveiled plans to vacate her role leading the Enterprise Partner Sales business at Telstra, with the channel executive set to transition out of the position by June 2021.
ARN can reveal that work is underway to ensure a smooth changeover during the interim period, with Pillay continuing to support ecosystem partners during the next three months. Telstra will also update the channel on the new leadership appointment in due course.
Pillay has led the Telstra Enterprise Partner Sales business since 2018, spearheading 23 per cent year-on-year growth during the past four years. This is in addition to pioneering efforts to establish and drive indirect business globally across the key markets of Singapore, Hong Kong, UK and the US.
During her tenure running the Telstra channel, the technology giant has also enhanced alliance partnerships with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Cisco among others, expanding to a division housing more than 150 employees.
Most recently, Pillay -- recognised as a finalist in the ARN Women in ICT Industry Awards (WIICTA) in 2019 -- led a transformation program in Australia designed to optimise partner management, harnessing digitisation and evolving commercial contracts in the process.
Other key achievements include establishing a new partner program built on the foundations of customer service and experience, backed by increased partner-led opportunities across the wider market.
“I’d like to express my gratitude to the many people who have supported me with my career, most notably our customers, channel partners and teams,” said Pillay, when speaking to ARN. “I will farewell this chapter of my career with enormous gratitude and pride, and look forward to staying connected with you.”
As the Australian economy repositions for future growth -- driven by modernisation agendas and supercharged by a desire to enhance innovation levels -- Pillay has continued to champion forward-thinking partners sizing up the potential of digitisation.
“If I were to summarise this year in one word it would be - unprecedented,” observed Pillay, when she addressed more than 500 technology executives during EDGE 2020, an invite-only virtual experience housing partners, distributors and vendors across Australia and New Zealand. “No one could have predicted how challenging this year would be.
“As individuals, as professionals, as humans, this year has redefined a lot of the things we once considered ‘normal’. And this has caused us to question: what's next?”
Citing Telstra-commissioned research by PwC, Pillay projected that digitisation will add $90 billion in growth to the Australian economy by 2025, placing the channel at the centre of a sizeable shift in market dynamics.
“To put that into perspective, that's a whole year's worth of economic growth for Australia,” Pillay confirmed. “This opportunity for digitisation is also expected to bring over 250,000 jobs, not just within the technology sector but across multiple key industries including education, healthcare, supply chain and government.
“So, when we ask, the question what's next? The answer, in short, is that while global disruption has negatively impacted 86 per cent of Australian business, it has provided the opportunity for a more digital Australia.”
In her address during EDGE 2020 Pillay outlined the most strategic ways in which the ecosystem can capitalise on increased demand for digitisation in both the short- and long-term.
“The first step is to embrace digitisation for yourself,” Pillay advised. “This is something we’re learning at Telstra, as part of our T22 strategy. We know that there is no use solving digitisation challenges for our customers before we’ve solved them for ourselves.”
