Databricks APJ Financial Services GTM Lead Appointment Strengthens Regional Strategy

Databricks has appointed Ashraf Safdar as Asia Pacific and Japan Financial Services Go-To-Market Lead, reinforcing its focus on expanding financial services engagement across the region.

Based in Singapore, Safdar will lead the company’s financial services GTM strategy in APJ, working with customers and partners across banking, insurance, and capital markets. The role is positioned to support institutions accelerating data and AI initiatives amid growing regional demand.

Regional Growth and Strategic Focus

Junta Nakai, Vice President and Global Head of Financial Services, Cybersecurity and Public Sector at Databricks, said that financial services in Asia represents one of the company’s fastest-growing segments. He noted that the business has reached a point requiring dedicated regional leadership to sustain momentum and deepen client engagement.

According to Nakai, continued investment in APJ reflects Databricks’ commitment to supporting clients navigating an evolving data and AI landscape.

Leadership Background

Safdar brings more than two decades of experience spanning cloud, analytics, data platforms, and financial services. He joins from Amazon Web Services, where he most recently served as Cross-Industry Sales Leader for Financial Services.

His prior experience includes leadership roles at HSBC Private Bank, IHS Markit, and UBS, covering advisory strategy, commercial operations, risk analytics, and business transformation.

In his statement, Safdar said financial institutions across APJ are leveraging data and AI for hyper-personalised customer engagement, real-time analytics, AI-driven decisioning, and fraud and risk mitigation. He added that he aims to work closely with customers and partners to enable scalable innovation on the Databricks platform.

Customer Adoption Across APJ

Databricks reports that several financial institutions in the region use its platform for fraud detection, financial crime monitoring, credit-risk analytics, compliance, and AI-driven customer analytics. These include National Australia Bank, Optiver, HDFC Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, and Techcombank.

The company also highlighted its latest platform innovations, including Lakebase, a serverless Postgres database built for AI agents, and Genie, a conversational AI assistant designed to enable employees to interact with enterprise data.

Expanding Data and AI Momentum

The Databricks APJ Financial Services GTM Lead appointment reflects a structured push to align regional leadership with expanding demand for data and AI transformation across banking and capital markets.

As financial institutions in Asia Pacific and Japan continue to prioritise real-time analytics, fraud prevention, and AI-enabled decision-making, Databricks’ strengthened regional leadership signals its intent to scale engagement across one of its fastest-growing verticals.

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