Getting to know Prem Pavan, general manager for Red Hat Growth and Emerging Markets (GEMs)

We’re delighted to welcome Prem Pavan to Red Hat as a general manager for Red Hat’s Growth and Emerging Markets (GEMs) region. In his new role, Pavan will be responsible for Red Hat’s business operations and strategic growth in ASEAN and Korea.

Pavan has extensive experience in the enterprise software space, with more than 23 years in IT across the Asia Pacific region. Prior to his current role at Red Hat, he served as vice president and general manager, Asia for LivePerson as well as vice president and general manager at Citrix, where he drove profitable growth across Asia, driving customer, partner and employee satisfaction. He also held leadership roles at Kofax and Software AG. 

We caught up with Pavan to hear his perspectives on open source and Red Hat, and his views on the future of work, digital transformation and leadership.

Why did you choose to join Red Hat?

Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud strategy and values of openness, courage, and collaboration put the company in a unique position to drive value to customers and partners in Asia. I’ve been on board for a few weeks now and have been invigorated and inspired by how strongly our teams tie together open source’s DNA innately with the way we do business. 

From an external perspective, digital transformation is accelerating in ASEAN and Korea. IDC predicts that by the end of 2023, 30% of spending on IT and business services will be driven by the need to strengthen digital resiliency and adapt to future business disruptions¹. Korea and ASEAN also have fantastic use cases when it comes to leapfrogging technology. The opportunity to work with open source technologies as the foundation for growth, by both traditional and disruptor companies, is very exciting.

What do you look most forward to in your new role?

I’d like to get out into the field and see our teams on the ground. There’s nothing like experiencing that energy in-person. To understand what is working well for them, and what else they might need.

I also look forward to deepening our dialogue with customers and partners. While cloud is the answer to numerous business challenges that our customers face, it means open hybrid cloud is more relevant than ever. With the help of our partners, we can jointly prepare to help customers meet their challenges, and support growth. 

How can Red Hat and open source technology support the digital transformation of companies in the GEMs region (ASEAN and Korea)?

The changing model of work represents exciting opportunities. Customers, employees and partners more than ever expect always-on services that are accessible and increasingly personalized. I can see this reflected in the strategic engagements that Red Hat has been working on. For example in the big push for app modernization, cloud-native development and automation efforts in the last 2-3 years in the GEMs region. 

It’s encouraging that enterprises like Lotte Card, Bank Mandiri, DBS and KBTG are placing greater trust and interest in enterprise open source technologies, especially for digital transformation. 

I am also excited about the potential of emerging use cases in AI and edge computing, and smart cities. Especially as it relates to the 5G rollout in this region and how it will support greater connectivity.  

How would you define leadership, and what kind of leader would you like to be?

I’d like to focus on service-oriented leadership. We are all driven by sales and targets, but I embrace the idea of: “you do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” We can make lofty goals but as a leader if I can’t build a good environment and a strong foundation, then you won’t achieve your goals. If I put the systems in place to enable success, it means I can get out of the way and let people do their best.  

As much as the team earns their stripes with me, it’s important that I build my credibility with them too. It’s a two-way communication and exchange, and a learning process. That’s my service to the team and I look forward to the journey.