Six women leaders on what they love most about working in the channel

The CRN Channel Leaders List Asia featured six women channel leaders who share what they love most about working in the channel.

The CRN Channel Leaders List Asia 2026 featured six women leaders from the Asia Pacific region. While the region continues to see an increasing number of women channel leaders, these six featured leaders shared their channel philosophy as well as what they enjoyed most about working in the channel.

The leaders include Sophie Ben Sadia from Equinix, Jo Dean from Commvault, Cloudflare’s Suchanda Mandal, Sandra Lee from Trellix, Michelle Saw from Palo Alto Networks and Pax8’s Lindsay Zwart.

To the other women channel leaders in Asia, the CRN Channel Awards Asia 2026 is currently accepting submissions for the Women of the Year category. Both vendors and partners can submit entries into this category that honors the successful women in the channel for the year 2025 from both the vendor and partner community.

The Women of the Channel Asia Leadership Summit is also returning to Singapore in 2026. Just as how these six women leaders featured here have shared their channel philosophy and what they love most about working in the channel, the WOTC Asia Leadership Summit brings together female leaders in the region to share more about the opportunities and challenges they have faced in their career in the channel.

Here’s what the six female leaders featured in the CRN Channel Leaders List Asia 2026 had to say about their channel journey.

Sophie Ben Sadia, Vice President, Partner Sales for Asia Pacific, Equinix

Sophie Ben Sadia, Vice President, Partner Sales for Asia Pacific at Equinix shared that her channel philosophy is centered on building partnerships that drive profitable growth together.

“We focus on creating clear differentiation in the market by aligning our value proposition with partners' business outcomes, ensuring mutual success rather than transactional engagement,” Sadia said.

Sadia also believes that strong teamwork is essential internally across field and channel teams, and externally with partners as well as to build trust, scale opportunities, and execute consistently. She said that when partners see predictable value, they invest, innovate, and grow with us, turning the ecosystem into a long-term competitive advantage rather than a short-term sales motion.

Sadia simply believes that building together, sharing the pains and gains is what excites most about working in the channel.

Jo Dean, Vice President of Channel and Alliances, Asia Pacific, Commvault

For Jo Dean, Vice President of Channel and Alliances, Asia Pacific at Commvault her channel philosophy centers on creating an ecosystem where partners grow with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

“I believe in amplifying partner impact through strong engagement, simplifying how we work together, and aligning around shared outcomes. By generating opportunities through joint GTM with hyperscalers and empowering partners with meaningful enablement, we help them lead to cyber resilience and hybrid cloud,” Dean said.

With co-innovation equally core to her approach, Dean explained that when partners bring their vertical expertise and services together with Commvault’s technology, they create differentiated, repeatable solutions that solve real customer challenges.

“Together, we build a channel that is resilient, profitable, and future-ready,” she said.

Daen shared that what she enjoys most about the channel is the relationships. Dean enjoys collaborating with talented, passionate partners who bring fresh ideas, unique perspectives, and genuine commitment to customer success.

“The channel is constantly evolving, and I love the energy that comes from solving challenges together, co-innovating, and helping partners grow their businesses. The channel isn't just a route to market; it's a community. Being part of that shared momentum and collective success is what inspires me every day,” she added.

Suchanda Mandal, VP Partnerships, APAC, Cloudflare

Having taken over the role in Cloudflare less than a year ago, Mandal believes that great channels are built upon trust, clarity, and shared outcomes.

“Partners are integral to our strategy, not just a route to market. I like to simplify how we win together, and I believe this can happen by leading with a customer-first approach, aligned incentives, and strong enablement. I personally lead with a long-term mindset, focusing on capability, transparency, and accountability. Strategy sets direction, but stewardship builds loyalty. When teams feel united on a singular mission, the channel is truly successful in achieving customer successes through long-term partnerships,” she said.

Mandal’s favorite thing about working with channels is the scalability and growth leading to a multiplier effect.

“When we get the strategy, trust, and incentives right - multiple markets, and customers can benefit faster from one idea or capability from those best-in-class partners. I love the mix of strategy and relationships, building something long-term with partners who bring deep local insight, ambition, and willingness to solve customer problems. When partners win, customers win, and we win - that shared success is incredibly energizing and fulfilling,” Mandal said.

Sandra Lee, Senior Director, Channels & Partnerships, Asia Pacific & Japan, Trellix

Sandra Lee, Senior Director, Channels & Partnerships, Asia Pacific & Japan at Trellix has a channel philosophy that centers on building lasting, trusting, and collaborative relationships with partners, recognizing them as integral extensions of our organization. Lee said this is accomplished by focusing on strategic alignment, empowering Trellix partners, and maintaining a consistently human-centric approach.

“I find the world of channels to be incredibly dynamic, rewarding, and highly impactful, despite the demanding nature of the work,” Lee shared.

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

As one of the most experienced channel leaders in the region, Michell Saw, Vice President of GTM Shared Services, JAPAC at Palo Alto Networks believes the channel is a collaborative ecosystem where partners are both trusted advisors to clients and valued customers of Palo Alto Networks.

“I view our partners as the critical bridge for delivering our Platformization and AI vision. My philosophy is simple: our success is inextricably linked to our channel partners. By fostering a culture of operational excellence, shared growth, and profitability, we deepen our market impact and provide the most robust security outcomes in the industry,” Saw explained.

Saw’s favorite thing about working in the channel is the dynamic nature of the relationships the cybersecurity vendor builds.

“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,” she said.

Lindsay Zwart, Executive Vice President & General Manager of APAC, Pax8

Lindsay Zwart, Executive Vice President & General Manager of APAC, Pax8 approach to channel is grounded in enablement, trust, and long-term value. She believes that as MSPs are the frontline of helping SMBs adopt new technology, and in the agentic era that role becomes even more critical.

“My focus is on reducing complexity, providing practical frameworks, and ensuring partners have the tools, knowledge, and confidence to turn AI and automation into real business outcomes. A strong channel ecosystem isn't built on transactions alone, but on collaboration, shared growth, and helping partners evolve as trusted advisors to their customers,” Zwart commented.

For Zwart, her favorite thing about working in the channel is the people.

“It's a community built on collaboration, shared problem-solving, and trust. Watching partners genuinely support each other while helping customers succeed is a joy to watch on a daily basis,” she shared.