Databricks appoints Simon Davies to lead APJ as enterprise AI adoption scales across the region

Comes amid 85 percent growth and expanded regional footprint, as enterprises shift from AI pilots to production deployment.

Databricks has appointed Simon Davies as senior vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), as the company looks to scale its enterprise AI and data business in one of its fastest-growing regions.

Based in Singapore, Davies will lead Databricks’ strategy, operations, and growth across key APJ markets, including India, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Greater China.

The appointment comes as Databricks reports over 85 percent year-on-year growth in APJ in the fourth quarter, reflecting rising enterprise demand for data and AI platforms across the region.

The company now employs over 1,500 people in APJ and is set to expand its regional presence with a new 32,000 square foot headquarters in Singapore at IOI Central Boulevard Towers, which will quadruple its existing footprint.

The growth is being driven by enterprises moving from AI experimentation to production-scale deployment, particularly across financial services, telecommunications, and the public sector.

Databricks continues to expand its customer base in the region, adding organisations such as Singapore Customs, Samsung Life Insurance, and Singtel.

These join existing enterprise customers including Atlassian, LG Electronics, National Australia Bank, and Toyota.

Focus on scaling enterprise AI execution

Davies brings more than three decades of experience across enterprise technology, data, and cloud.

He previously held senior leadership roles at SAP, where he served as regional president for Asia Pacific, and at Splunk as senior vice president and general manager.

His experience also includes leadership positions at Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle.

Databricks’ chief revenue officer, Ron Gabrisko, said, “Simon brings not only deep regional and industry expertise but also an exceptional track record of building high-performing teams.”

“His leadership will be instrumental in unlocking the next phase of growth for one of our fastest growing regions, helping APJ organisations harness the full potential of data and AI to drive powerful business transformation.”

His mandate will centre on helping enterprises operationalise AI by unifying data, applications, and AI models to deliver measurable business outcomes.

The move reflects a shift in the APJ market, where organisations are looking to move beyond pilot projects and deploy AI systems at scale.

Databricks is positioning its platform to support this transition, with offerings including Lakebase, its serverless Postgres database built for AI agents, and Genie, an AI agent that enables employees to interact with enterprise data using natural language.

The company sees APJ as a digitally advanced and AI-ready region, where demand is increasingly driven by real-world use cases rather than experimentation.

With expanding regional infrastructure, a growing enterprise customer base, and new leadership in place, Databricks is looking to strengthen its execution as enterprises accelerate production-scale AI adoption across the region.