Salesforce has announced the integration of its India and ASEAN operations into a unified operating unit, with Arundhati Bhattacharya, currently the CEO and Chairperson of Salesforce India, taking on the expanded role of CEO for the ASEAN region starting February 1, 2025. This strategic move will encompass markets including Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India.
Arun Kumar Parameswaran, Managing Director of Salesforce India, will oversee sales leadership for the ASEAN region while continuing to report directly to Bhattacharya. Bhattacharya, who will remain based in India, highlighted the synergies within these diverse markets, emphasizing the potential for innovation, collaboration, and shared best practices. According to her, the combined operating unit will allow Salesforce to bring heightened focus and investment to the region, leveraging its substantial market size and growth opportunities.
The move aims to replicate Salesforce India’s remarkable success in other ASEAN countries. In FY 2023-24, Salesforce India achieved a revenue milestone of $1 billion, marking a 36% year-on-year growth. Bhattacharya expressed confidence that features developed for India, along with best practices from the ASEAN markets, could drive growth and strengthen Salesforce’s regional impact.
The company has been steadily expanding its presence in ASEAN. It has offices in Singapore since 2004, Thailand since 2021, and Indonesia since 2023, alongside a decade-long presence in India. Salesforce employs over 1,000 people across ASEAN markets and more than 13,000 in India. Plans for further growth include establishing a new entity in the Philippines within the next six to nine months.
Bhattacharya emphasized the importance of localizing features and complying with region-specific regulations, such as data localization, to better serve the unique needs of these markets. Her experience in building Salesforce India into a growth engine will be pivotal in driving similar success across ASEAN.
Salesforce’s flagship autonomous AI agent platform, Agentforce, will play a critical role in this expansion. The platform enables actions like fixing product defects, scheduling issues, and managing exchanges without human intervention, showcasing the company’s commitment to innovative solutions.
The ASEAN region is a strategic growth area for Salesforce, supported by the company’s growing teams and transformative customer solutions in emerging markets like Thailand and Indonesia. By consolidating operations under Bhattacharya’s leadership, Salesforce aims to deepen its engagement, enhance customer outcomes, and achieve accelerated growth across its expanded footprint.
