BrazilBrazilian executive Ana Paula Assis oversees IBM in the Middle East
IBM has a new General Manager for the Middle East region: the Brazilian-origin Ana Paula Assis, who also leads the Europe and Africa region.
Ana Paula Assis has been promoted internally into the role, having already been with the firm for over 25 years. During this period, she held roles of growing seniority, including strategic business positions in the US and China and General Manager for the Latin American region.
Most recently, Assis played – according to Rob Thomas, a Senior Vice President at IBM – a “pivotal role in securing a flawless experience for our clients during the Kyndryl spin-off”, a process which was completed in November last year. The managed infrastructure services business Kyndryl is currently valued at circa $3.9 billion.
“I am very honoured and excited to be appointed General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa,” said Assis on her promotion.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to work with such talented team of IBM professionals in a highly 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 and the hybrid cloud platform and artificial intelligence will certainly have a substantial role to help our private and public organisations further advance.”
Thomas: “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 [including the title ‘Best Brazilian CEOs’ by Forbes]. 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.”
With Assis in place, IBM again turns to a woman to lead the region. The Madrid-based executive steps into the shoes of Marta Martínez, who took over the role from Martin Jetter in the summer of 2020.
Turning to LinkedIn to thank her predecessor, Assis stated: “My gratitude and acknowledgement go to Marta. Her leadership has been crucial to successfully help our team and clients in EMEA to navigate the pandemic with great care. Marta has been a role model for so many of us, and we wish her every success and happiness in her next chapter.”
While end responsible for the Middle East, the region is effectively led by UAE-based Saad Toma, General Manager of Middle East and Africa. He has been in the top seat since July last year, having succeeded Takreem El-Tohamy (who still is with the company in a global sales role).
