Tom FerrariVP - GTM & Technology Search, UltraTalent · Placing elite sellers & builders at startups

Running Successful Tech Companies in Asia-Pacific

20 Sept 2025 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:45

In this YouTube segment, the speaker recounts a 25‑year professional journey leading technology companies from Singapore across the Asia‑Pacific region. He describes establishing and expanding direct and hybrid sales channels from India to Japan, opening regional offices, and building high‑performing teams while serving diverse customers. The narrative highlights his most recent role as CEO of ForgeRock, an identity and access management firm, where he oversaw a four‑and‑a‑half‑year tenure that included a successful New York Stock Exchange IPO in 2021, followed by a private‑equity take‑private and a merger with a major competitor. Concluding with a personal reflection, he explains that the corporate turbulence prompted him to embark on a sabbatical and seek a new adventure, setting the stage for the current discussion.

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Then over that next 25 years, I've been running tech companies out of Singapore, have been selling from India all the way to Japan, direct channels, hybrid models, offices all over the region, offices in some countries, opening new markets. And I couldn't, in hindsight, have asked for a more exciting opportunity in which to develop a career. I've met some incredible people. I've had the wonderful opportunity of building brilliant teams, working with fantastic customers, continually learning. And I feel very, very fortunate. And so to lead on, because I know you're going to ask me this question about the sabbatical, the last role I had, I was with ForgeRock in the identity and access management space. in the cybersecurity space. And I had been running and building their business for the last 4 and a half years. We built a great team. It was terrific. We listed in New York in 2021 on the New York Stock Exchange. And it was absolutely brilliant. But at the start of this year, the company went private and was acquired by private equity. And with that craziness, the merging with our biggest competitor, pre-acquisition, I thought, Pri, it's time for a new adventure. But this year is going to be a personal adventure. And that's how we've got to this call.