Channel Leaders Asia 2025: The female channel leaders

In conjunction with International Women’s Day, CRN Asia takes a look at the female leaders in the tech industry that have been making a difference in the channel.

CRN Asia’s Channel Leaders Asia 2025 features 31 channel leaders from the Asia Pacific region. While the list and industry are often male dominated, female leaders are also rising. The inaugural Channel Leaders Asia 2025 list features five female leaders from the region.

Pauline Tng, Head of Partners & Alliances, APJ at Mimecast

As the head of partners & alliances for Asia-Pacific/Japan (APJ) at Mimecast, Tng is responsible for leading the APJ partner organization and building revenue-generating, partner-led business through all partner types across APJ.

When it comes to working in the channel, Tng enjoys building successful joint business outcomes with partners. Her channel philosophy is focused on understanding partner motivations, finding grounds for success; and being authentic in the partnership, which she believes are key to joint success with partners.

Her accomplishments include successfully helping partners achieve incremental revenue with their existing installed base customers by positioning the Mimecast technology; and demonstrating longevity of the partnership through predictable and rewarding engagements locally.

Tng was also responsible for designing and executing the first-ever Partner Advisory Council (PAC) in APJ. This council brought Mimecast global executives together with key partner executives across for meaningful discussions and impactful results.

“We actively solicited feedback and inputs into key aspects of our partner program, the solution roadmap, and how we could do better in our engagement process. We were able to take the feedback in making process improvements in region,” said Tng.

Eloina Pesce, VP Channel EMEA & APAC at Darktrace

An accomplished IT professional with over a decade of experience in the IT Channel sector, Pesce has worked with both resellers and vendors across Italy, Ireland, and the UK, demonstrating exceptional leadership by expanding the Darktrace EMEA channel team and with consistent year on year growth on all metrics since taking on the role.

“A channel team is successful when programs, enablement, business development and sales engagements are all driving towards the same goals. It's so key for different stakeholders in both vendors and partners to be committed to the partnership and work together. This is why a small number of strong partnerships is in my opinion the recipe for success,” said Pesce on her channel philosophy.

In 2024, Pesce expanded her team by 35% and developed aggressive growth plans with target partners resulting in over 100% growth with these partners. She also drove the adoption of Darktrace’s new partner program resulting in EMEA having the highest channel mix, highest revenue growth and largest number of Elite partners globally.

In the latter half of 2024, Pesce led the introduction of Defender Days, a highly successful initiative warmly received by participating partners. This program commenced with an enablement day, designed to equip partners with the necessary tools and knowledge.

Michelle Saw, Vice President of GTM Shared Services, JAPAC at Palo Alto Networks

As Vice President at Palo Alto Networks, leading Go-To-Market Shared Services and Ecosystems, Saw drives the delivery of both sales and operational excellence with a relentless focus on customers' delight at the heart of its GTM transformation to deliver a better security outcome, with Platformization and Precision AI solutions in partnership with channel partners across JAPAC.

“My favorite thing about working in the channel is the dynamic nature of the relationships we build. The channel ecosystem brings together a variety of partners, each with unique perspectives and strengths. Collaborating with them to help solve customer challenges is incredibly rewarding, and seeing our joint efforts come to life in meaningful ways is a highlight. I also love the opportunity to shape strategic initiatives that directly impact both our partners and customers,” commented Saw.

A veteran with more than 30 years of experience in the IT industry, Saw is also the winner of 2021 SG Top 100 Women in Tech. Her channel philosophy is viewing the channel and partners as a seamless extension of the Palo Alto Networks team. Saw believes they are essential in partnering with PaloAlto to deliver solutions to customers and expand its reach to new markets.

“Partners serve as trusted advisors, offering critical value to our clients, while also being valued customers themselves. Empowering our partners' growth and success drives a positive ripple effect that strengthens our business and deepens our impact in delivering a better security outcome in the market,” added Saw.

With that aid, Saw also feels the biggest challenge partners will face in 2025 is shifting from traditional reselling to value-driven, outcome-based selling.

“It's no longer enough to simply offer products and solutions; partners must focus on delivering tangible business outcomes for their customers. This requires investing in the right expertise, enabling them to specialize in key areas, and implement solutions effectively,” said Saw.

Sok Leng Tan, Senior Director, Channel Sales at Veeam Software

As Senior Director of Channel Sales for South-East Asia and Korea (SEAK) at Veeam Software, Tan plays a pivotal role in driving channel engagement, strategic alliances, and business growth across the region. With nearly three decades of experience, Tan is known for her dynamic leadership and strategic vision and has been instrumental in expanding Veeam's Cloud Service Provider business.

“My favorite part of working in the channel is the opportunity to engage with a diverse range of partners, each with unique business priorities and challenges. I enjoy collaborating with them to address their customers' needs and finding solutions that drive success. Additionally, working within different ecosystems to foster growth and innovation keeps the role dynamic and rewarding,” said Tan.

Tan’s team drove channel attribution to overall revenue from 16% in 2023 to 26% in 2024. She also worked with partners to close one significant account contributing to more than US$200K additional ARR in 2024, and developed new programs to engage new target partners, driving a 10% incremental pipeline.

On her channel philosophy, Tan believes that building a channel ecosystem is about building trust with the partners you work with.

“People work with people, and trust is fundamental for the partnership to work. With trust, both sides are more willing to share information freely, work towards a common goal and be more effective. On top of that, it is important to ensure a win-win-win situation. That means Veeam wins due to an increase in revenue, partners win due to profitable margins and achieving peace of mind using reliable products like Veeam, and customers win because partnering with Veeam helps them solve their pain points,” explained Tan.

In 2025, Tan would like to see channel partners investing more in developing their team's technical skills for complex deployment, customer education through workshops, and demand generation activities to help drive business growth for both partners and Veeam.

Aki Wakimoto, Country Manager, Japan at Wasabi Technologies

With over 20 years in Japan’s IT industry, Aki Wakimoto joins Wasabi Technologies as its Japan country manager, spearheading Wasabi's continued growth in the region. She works closely with Wasabi Vice President and General Manager APAC Michael King to build Wasabi's go-to-market team in Japan, drive value for channel partners and customers, and help deliver storage solutions that maximize the value of data across organizations.

“Partners are at the center of everything we do. I believe treating partners like they are our team, working to develop strategies, investing in them and ensuring we have aligned goals and measurements. The long-term key to success is to identify areas of synergy where we can be better together, drive meaningful customer outcomes and have fun along the way,” said Wakimoto on her channel philosophy.

In 2024, Wakimoto recruited three major distributors in Japan as well as signed 250 resellers and MSPs with distributors. She also developed key white glove partners to convince their senior management to invest by showing the opportunity to them.

In 2025, she aims to increase overall percentage of company revenue that comes through the channel, improve partner sales skills and ramp up partner sales of a newly launched product/service.

“Wasabi's push for continued channel-friendly management tools has included the evolution of Wasabi Account Control Manager that allows MSPs and channel partners to manage Wasabi accounts on behalf of their customers. New this year is the ability to customize the console and completely private label the partner solution if they should so wish, giving the partners the ability to productize the solution and sell it as their own offering which is especially great for MSPs,” she added.