IBM hires new EMEA boss as predecessor retires
The new EMEA boss is an inside hire having been with the company for 25 years
Big Blue announced today that Ana Paula Assis (pictured) has been appointed general manager for IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
She succeeds Marta MartÃnez Alonso, who is retiring from IBM after 19 years of service.
Assis will be responsible for the business operations, driving revenue growth, client satisfaction, and employee engagement across EMEA.
In her 25-year tenure with IBM, Assis has fulfilled several other executive roles, including more than three years as GM for the Latin American region, during which she drove sustained growth, and increased market share.
She also held leadership roles based in the US and in China.
"Ana Paula is a remarkable leader who combines outstanding business eminence and IT industry depth with a relentless focus on talent and diversity development, which has earned her several recognitions," said IBM global sales SVP, Rob Thomas.
"Her deep technical expertise in areas like data, automation, security and Hybrid Cloud has been critical to her success in driving IBM's growth strategy. Most recently, she had a pivotal role in securing a flawless experience for our clients during the IBM/ Kyndryl spin-off."
Assis is also a member of the board of Junior Achievement Americas, one of the largest philanthropic organisations dedicated to inspiring and preparing young students to become entrepreneurs.
In recent years she has been recognised as Personality of the Year - Digital Transformation by the Institute of Learning & Performance (2018); amongst Brazil's most powerful women and Best Brazilian CEOs by Forbes (2019); and amongst the top 100 executives with best reputation in Brazil according to MERCO (2021).
She added: "I am delighted to lead such a multicultural region which is poised for new levels of innovation and entrepreneurship.
"Embracing the next chapter of digital transformation will be key to help accelerate economic recovery in Europe, Middle East and Africa - and the hybrid cloud platform and AI will certainly have a substantial role to help our private and public organisations further advance and contribute to progress while focusing on environmental sustainability for our region."