APJ growth depends on strong regional leaders. monday.com faced delays when two critical roles in Australia and Japan went unfilled for six months. Despite internal and agency support, the right talent never emerged, creating execution gaps and rising pressure on revenue plans.

monday.com needed three seasoned leaders who understood APJ nuance and could deliver fast commercial lift. After six months, internal and external searches still weren’t surfacing aligned operators. Expectations were misaligned, regional calibration was off, and confidence across APJ and HQ was slipping. Each month without leadership meant lost pipeline and slower deal cycles. They needed clarity, speed, and access to senior talent who were not active in the market.

Playbook reframed the entire search from day one, with a focus on precision, alignment, and APJ-specific traction.

Defined Success Profiles
Before touching the market, we rebuilt the briefs. Commercial outcomes, leadership behaviours, cultural traits, and what “great” looked like in each market.

Mapped APJ Leadership Talent
We focused on operators with proven SaaS leadership experience and a track record of driving revenue. This gave monday.com visibility into talent pools they had struggled to access.

Narrative-First Outreach
Senior leaders don’t respond to generic outreach. We developed personalised messaging built around monday.com's regional opportunity and long-term growth story. This approach converted 72% of passive talent.

Tight Stakeholder Synchronisation
We aligned APJ and global leaders. This removed the lag that had slowed earlier efforts and gave monday.com a clear, fast motion from shortlist to offer.

Within 46 days, monday.com filled both leadership roles. They hired their Regional Vice President, A/NZ + ASEAN, and their new Country Manager, Japan. Both hires were senior operators with the experience, presence, and commercial DNA needed to reset the region’s trajectory.

Key outcomes delivered:

1. 3 leadership roles solved after 6+ months of stalled progress
2. 72% passive leadership conversion rate
3. Renewed internal confidence that APJ could scale at speed
4. Stronger regional foundation for pipeline growth, client expansion, and consistent execution

The partnership validated something essential: with the right search model, APJ doesn’t need to be slow, complex, or high-risk.