Hitachi Vantara’s A/NZ boss takes on APAC leadership role

Hitachi Vantara, the digital infrastructure, data management and digital solutions subsidiary of Hitachi, has promoted its former Australia and New Zealand boss, Adrian Johnson, to Asia Pacific (APAC) vice president and general manager of its Digital Infrastructure Business Unit (DIBU).

Prior to the promotion, Johnson served as Hitachi Vantara’s vice president and managing director for Australia and New Zealand from August 2019 to January this year, during which time he guided the team to sales and market share growth during years marked by a global pandemic.

Daniel Chong, Hitachi Vantara’s previous APAC general manager and Johnson’s predecessor, left the company in late March 2021. 

In his new APAC role, which sees him report to Hitachi Vantara chief revenue officer Scott Worman, Johnson will continue to lead the company’s A/NZ region until a successor is appointed.

The move sees Johnson become responsible for steering Hitachi Vantara’s business strategy across the APAC region, partnering with customers to help them navigate and execute complex digital transformation journeys.  

“I am looking forward to working with experienced and customer-focused colleagues across the Asia Pacific region, as well as Hitachi Vantara’s ecosystem of partners and distributors, to maximise the insights our APAC customers gain from their data and to support their data driven initiatives with cloud smart, hybrid cloud solutions,” Johnson said.

Johnson comes to the role after spending two-and-a-half years as the company’s A/NZ managing director, a job he took following three-and-a-half years as A/NZ general manager for software maker Liferay. He has also done time at Code 42 Software, Dell and Fuji Xerox, among other tech players.

“Over Adrian’s [two-and-a-half] years of service leading Australia and New Zealand for Hitachi Vantara, he has demonstrated a passion for growth, a customer-first mindset and a commitment to creating the right culture for our people. I am confident that Adrian is the right leader to drive APAC’s business growth,” said Mark Ablett, president of Hitachi Vantara’s Digital Infrastructure Business Unit. 

Ablett himself was promoted to his current global role by the vendor in August last year. He previously acted as the unit’s worldwide chief revenue officer from February 2020.

Prior to joining the Digital Infrastructure Business Unit in 2020, Ablett was the vendor’s senior vice president of worldwide go-to-market strategy and transformation from November 2017 as well as SVP and general manager of Asia Pacific from 2015.