A new title does not always mean a bigger job. But across these eight leadership moves, the mandate itself is getting broader.
CEOs are taking responsibility across multiple markets. Digital roles are absorbing customer and loyalty priorities, while specialized leaders are being asked to connect AI, underwriting, and communications more directly with business strategy.
Across banking, automotive, fintech, retail and more, these eight appointments point to a common shift: companies are putting fewer boundaries around what senior leaders are expected to solve.
Highlights
Sigrid Rouam, MS, PhD
APAC Head of AI Capability, JPMorgan
Sigrid Rouam has joined JPMorgan as APAC Head of AI Capability, taking on a regional mandate focused on developing practical AI solutions for the bank’s businesses across Asia.
In announcing the move, Sigrid said her role will involve translating regional business needs into AI solutions while strengthening AI capabilities across the region. She will also work with global teams as the bank embeds AI more deeply into its operations.
NIA Insight: JPMorgan’s AI challenge is shifting from access to execution. Rouam’s mandate is explicitly about translating APAC business needs into practical AI solutions, suggesting the next priority is not simply deploying more AI tools, but making global capabilities useful across very different businesses and markets in Asia.
Annaliese Atina
Managing Director, Ford Motor Company Vietnam
Annaliese Atina has been appointed Managing Director of Ford Motor Company Vietnam, bringing leadership experience across automotive, telecommunications, and consumer businesses.
She previously served as Managing Director and Executive Director of Ford New Zealand, where her responsibilities included strategy, commercial performance, market growth, electrification, customer experience, and dealer network development. Before Ford, she held senior roles at One New Zealand and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
NIA Insight: Ford Vietnam is getting a market leader whose experience extends well beyond selling cars. Annaliese’s previous Ford remit covered electrification, customer experience, dealer networks, transformation and commercial performance. Moving that combination of experience into Vietnam suggests Ford sees market leadership there as an increasingly integrated job — connecting how vehicles are sold with how the business adapts around them.
Naveed Irshad
Regional CEO for Indonesia, Philippines and Africa, Prudential
Naveed Irshad is joining Prudential as Regional CEO for Indonesia, the Philippines and Africa, with the appointment effective October 26, 2026.
Alongside overseeing those markets, Irshad will have enterprise-wide responsibility for Product and Health and will join Prudential’s Group Executive Committee. He brings more than three decades of experience, including extensive work across product development, customer-led growth, and partnerships in multiple markets.
NIA Insight: Prudential is combining geographic leadership with a wider product mandate. Naveed will oversee Indonesia, the Philippines, and Africa while carrying enterprise-wide responsibility for Product and Health. His global product development experience adds context to that expanded remit: the role creates a direct link between the needs of individual growth markets and how Prudential develops product solutions across its wider business.
Himelda Renuat
Chief Executive Officer, DOKU
Himelda Renuat has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of DOKU and Head of Antom Indonesia, effective September 24, 2026.
A co-founder of DOKU, she most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer and brings more than 18 years of experience across direct marketing, digital content marketing, and e-commerce. In her expanded leadership role, she will oversee DOKU’s next phase of growth while connecting its local payments capabilities with Antom’s regional and global network.
NIA Insight: DOKU’s next phase is bringing local leadership and international reach under one executive. Himelda will simultaneously lead DOKU and Antom Indonesia, connecting an established Indonesian payments business with Antom’s broader capabilities. Her appointment suggests DOKU’s growth story is becoming less about building locally in isolation and more about connecting its domestic position to a wider payments network.
Tapan Ghosh
CEO, VinFast Asia
VinFast has appointed Tapan Ghosh as CEO – Asia, expanding his leadership mandate as the electric vehicle company develops its operations across India and Indonesia.
Tapan previously served as CEO of VinFast India. In his new position, he is responsible for overall business operations across both markets. His experience includes more than 12 years at Hyundai Motor India, as well as earlier leadership roles at Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki India.
NIA Insight: VinFast is beginning to treat India and Indonesia as a connected Asian growth mandate. Expanding Tapan’s responsibility from India to both markets puts sales, network development, marketing, after-sales and finance under leadership already tested in one of them. The move suggests VinFast is looking for greater coordination as its Asian footprint expands, rather than building each market entirely separately.
Kshitij Mulay
Group Chief Digital and yuu Rewards Officer, DFI Retail Group
DFI Retail Group has appointed Kshitij Mulay as Group Chief Digital and yuu Rewards Officer as the retailer strengthens its customer, digital, and data capabilities.
Kshitij brings more than 25 years of experience across digital, technology, and business transformation in global consumer and retail organizations. His experience spans digital commerce, data and analytics, AI, customer experience, and omnichannel innovation.
NIA Insight: DFI is putting loyalty inside the digital transformation brief, not beside it. Combining group digital leadership with responsibility for yuu Rewards connects technology, data and customer engagement under one mandate. That structure suggests DFI increasingly sees its loyalty ecosystem as part of the infrastructure of its digital business rather than simply a customer-retention programme.
Jon Russell
Executive Director, Ellerton & Co. Public Relations
Jon Russell has joined Ellerton & Co. Public Relations as Executive Director, with a focus on the firm’s technology and venture capital business.
A former journalist, Jon will also help expand the firm’s work beyond traditional communications into areas including owned content and investor relations. He will continue publishing Asia Tech Review alongside his new position.
NIA Insight: Ellerton is widening what it considers a communications business. Jon’s remit covers tech and venture capital while extending into owned content and investor relations. Bringing a former journalist into that mandate suggests the firm sees an opportunity beyond traditional earned media, as companies increasingly need to communicate directly with customers, investors and industry audiences.
Shahrezal Wan
Country Lead, Motor & Corporate Underwriting Solutions, QBE Asia
Shahrezal Wan has been appointed Country Lead, Motor & Corporate Underwriting Solutions at QBE Asia in Singapore.
He brings more than 20 years of experience across non-life insurance and reinsurance, with expertise spanning underwriting, reinsurance, property, casualty, specialty lines, client management, and business development. Before joining QBE, Wan held senior positions at Marsh Asia, Swiss Re, ERGO Insurance Thailand, and Munich Re.
NIA Insight: QBE is putting technical underwriting and commercial relationships closer together. Wan’s background spans underwriting, reinsurance, brokerage, client management and business development. For a country role covering Motor and Corporate Underwriting Solutions, that mix suggests the mandate is not simply about assessing risk, but connecting underwriting decisions more directly with how corporate insurance solutions are developed and delivered to clients.
Final Thoughts: One Role, More Ground to Cover
Across these eight appointments, one pattern stands out: companies are making senior leadership roles less contained.
Market leadership is increasingly intersecting with product, technology, customer strategy and regional expansion. Rather than keeping these priorities in separate lanes, companies are placing more of them under leaders expected to connect strategy with execution.
The shift is not simply toward bigger titles, but broader mandates. As businesses across Asia become more interconnected, the boundaries around leadership are expanding with them.
Asia Leadership Moves will continue tracking the executives behind these shifts — and what their appointments reveal about where businesses are heading next.
Highlights
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