IBM has appointed Santosh Kumar as Head of Growth Marketing for India and South Asia, moving from his tenure as APAC Ecosystem Marketing Leader.
Announcing the transition on LinkedIn, Kumar said he would draw on his experience working with partners and distributors across Asia Pacific to strengthen client engagement in India and South Asia. His stated focus is on communicating IBM’s business value and connecting clients with its solutions through their preferred channels and forms of engagement.
The move brings together Kumar’s experience in ecosystem marketing, demand generation and regional collaboration. Reflecting on his previous assignment, he said working closely with clients, partners and distributors had shaped an outside-in understanding of IBM and the needs of its wider business ecosystem.
His APAC responsibilities included engagement with technology partners on their customer propositions. IBM’s ASEAN newsroom features Kumar in his capacity as Ecosystem Marketing Leader, APAC, discussing how partners address enterprise requirements through connectivity and IT services. Earlier partner communications also identify him as Marketing Leader–ASEAN.
In his new position, Kumar plans to build on that experience with his team, scaling approaches that have demonstrated value and helping clients understand the relevance of IBM’s offerings to their business priorities. His announcement emphasised flexibility in engagement, recognising that enterprise customers interact with technology providers through multiple routes, media and relationships.
Kumar identified AI, hybrid cloud and automation as important areas of enterprise activity in India. He linked his marketing priorities to helping organisations understand how IBM’s capabilities can support adoption at scale, with trust remaining central to the conversation.
The transition shifts his focus from partner ecosystems across Asia Pacific to growth marketing across India and South Asia. It also carries forward the partner and distributor perspective he highlighted as a defining influence on his approach.
Kumar invited customers, partners, distributors and IBM colleagues across the region to connect as he takes up the assignment, signalling an emphasis on collaboration and client engagement in the next phase of his leadership.
