IBM has announced that Ana Paula Assis, GM of IBM Europe, Middle East & Africa will take on the expanded role of chairman: Europe, Middle East & Africa, succeeding Martin Jetter, who is retiring from IBM at the end of 2022 after 36 years of service to the company.
Since Assis’s appointment to GM: IBM EMEA in January 2022, she has been successfully leading IBM’s AI and hybrid cloud strategy in the region, driving the business to deliver consistent double digit growth in the last three quarters.
“Ana Paula is an outstanding leader who combines business eminence and IT industry depth with a relentless focus on talent and diversity development, which has earned her several recognitions. Her deep technical expertise in areas like data, automation, security, and hybrid cloud has been critical to her success in driving IBM’s growth strategy across EMEA,” says Rob Thomas, senior vice-president of IBM Global Sales.
In addition to her current responsibility for IBM’s business operations, client satisfaction and employee engagement in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Assis will also be responsible for IBM’s relationship with the European Union as well as other institutions across the region, advancing topics that matter to our business and society, starting 1 January 2023.
Assis joined the list of the top 100 executives with best reputation in Brazil according to MERCO in 2021. She has also been awarded as the leading IT executive by Valor Economico newspaper, Forbes most powerful women in Brazil, and Forbes Best CEOs Brazil (2019) and as “Personality of the Year – Digital Transformation” by Institute Learning & Performance (2018). She was also member of the board of Junior Achievement Americas, one of the largest philanthropic organizations dedicated to inspiring and preparing young students to become entrepreneurs between March 2018 and January 2022.
She graduated in Computer Science and holds a post degree in business management by FGV and an MBA by Fundação Dom Cabral.