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Boomi enables its customers to deliver integrated experiences to transform interactions , transform how customers add and connect with suppliers and transform , simplify and improve employee engagement . Thomas Lai , Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific and Japan , Boomi , talks about his most memorable achievement and about how he changed his management style .

Describe your current job role .

I am Boomi ’ s Vice President and General Manager

for Asia Pacific and Japan , with responsibility for elevating our customer retention rate and driving revenue through new business while ensuring profitable growth .

What would you describe as your most memorable achievement ?

There are three equally memorable achievements :

I had the opportunity to stew into a VP role for the first time earlier in my career – about 20 years ago . I worked for a CEO who invested in my professional development , alongside a supportive board . The process taught me a lot about stepping up and running an organisation . It was very stressful , however . I spent a lot of energy working on everything . I learned to pick my battles and to invest my time on what ’ s most important . That meant less of ‘ doing it myself ’ and more of guiding my team to do their jobs well and empowering them to make decisions .

Second was my time at Jetlore , a company acquired by PayPal , where I held the role of Chief Revenue Officer . Following the acquisition , I wasn ’ t sure how I would fit in as a VP of a US $ 2 billion B2B company with tens of thousands of employees . It was a drastic shift . However , that experience helped me hone my ability to indirectly make an impact , as opposed to explicitly driving change .

The third is in my current role , where I ’ m applying what I ’ ve learned from past roles to a more complex model in APJ , which requires several different levers to be effective amid varying degrees of digital maturity and diverse business and buying cultures . I won ’ t say I ’ ve ticked all boxes , but I feel I ’ ve made strong progress since I stepped into the position in October 2022 .

What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?

I want people to feel empowered . I see my role as providing clear direction and highlighting what ’ s really important – that we establish high levels of credibility – so the wider team can take ownership of their roles and thrive .

Additionally , I see collaboration across this diverse region as the cornerstone to impressive outcomes . No one is alone on an island ; we do things together . Throughout my career , I have seen how much of an impact a ‘ selfless ’ team can deliver .

Lastly , I believe we can make tomorrow better than today , and it should be part of a continuous process of improvement . I also like to celebrate successes to ensure everyone gets the recognition they ’ ve earned .

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