Hi C***n, I hope you’re doing well. I came across your profile and was impressed by your decade-plus leadership of T***G in Japan, as well as your track record building sales and partnerships across Asia. I’m J***e with StrategyBrain, and I’m working with A***H on their Asia-Pacific Regional Director search. Given your strong background in go-to-market strategy and P&L management in Japan and broader APAC, I’d love to share more about this opportunity. Would you be open to a brief chat? Best regards, J***e HR Recruiter, StrategyBrain

Hi C***n, Great to hear you’re interested in the Asia-Pacific Regional Director role. Before we lock in a time, here’s a quick overview of A***H and the position to give you some context: Company Snapshot • A global leader in industrial automation and Industry 4.0 software, with 2,500+ colleagues across Europe and Asia. • Strong emphasis on cross-cultural collaboration, continuous improvement and customer-centric innovation. Role Highlights , Asia-Pacific Regional Director • Define and execute go-to-market and expansion strategies across Japan and wider APAC, leveraging your proven success at T***G. • Lead and mentor a matrixed team in sales, marketing, operations and biz-dev to hit ambitious regional targets. • Own P&L, budget planning and forecasting to drive profitable growth. • Build and nurture strategic partnerships with key clients, distributors and industry stakeholders. • Use data-driven insights to spot market trends and propose strategic initiatives. Why This Matters for You • High-visibility role reporting to the Executive Board, with real ownership of region-wide performance. • The chance to scale a world-class automation offering throughout Asia, capitalizing on your Japan expertise and APAC network. • Comprehensive support,from central R&D and digital tools to local teams,ensuring you have what you need to succeed. • Competitive package with performance bonus and long-term incentives. Does this align with what you were hoping for? Any specific area you’d like more detail on before our call? As for timings, I’m available (CET) on: • Wednesday, April 10: 10:00,10:30 or 14:00,14:30 • Thursday, April 11: 09:30,10:00 or 15:00,15:30 Let me know what works best for you, or feel free to propose an alternative slot. Looking forward to our conversation! Best regards, J***e HR Recruiter, StrategyBrain

Hi C***n, Great questions. Here’s a snapshot: 1. APAC Team Structure - You’d lead a matrixed organization of local country heads (Japan, China, India) plus a central support hub in Singapore. In Japan specifically, there are three direct reports: a Sales Manager, a Solutions Engineer (application support), and a Marketing & BD Manager. Beyond that, you’ll work closely with our regional Operations and Finance leads, as well as an APAC-wide business analyst who provides data insights and forecasting. 2. Key Challenges in Japan - Highly discerning customer base with strong expectations for localization and service quality - A competitive landscape of well-established domestic automation providers - Slower decision cycles driven by multi-stakeholder approval processes - Evolving digitalization needs,manufacturers are keen on Industry 4.0 but often require tailored integration - Regulatory and sustainability standards that continually shift, demanding agile adaptation Your deep experience building partnerships and driving market entry in Japan will be instrumental in tackling these. I’ve penciled in our conversation for April 10, 14:00,14:30 CET and will send a calendar invite shortly. Looking forward to diving deeper! Best regards, J***e HR Recruiter, StrategyBrain

Hi C***n, Great question. As Japan Head, you’ll have full P&L ownership for the market. You’ll build and present your annual budget,covering localization, go-to-market activities, channel incentives and marketing,to our CFO and Executive Board for approval. Once that envelope is signed off, you have significant autonomy to allocate those funds as you see fit. You can reallocate spend across customer events, digital campaigns, technical demos and partner programs without further sign-off, provided you stay within your approved budget. For any major out-of-budget or capex investments (e.g. a new demo center or large-scale localization project), you’d submit a concise business case for Executive Board review. We maintain monthly and quarterly finance reviews for transparency, but day-to-day decisions on spend prioritization are yours. This balance ensures you can move quickly to meet Japan’s unique market needs while benefiting from robust financial governance. Looking forward to diving deeper on April 10. Best regards, J***e

Hi C***n, Glad to go deeper on this: 1) Recent localization capex example , Scope: a dedicated demo lab plus full Japanese-language UI and documentation package. , Business case: ~3 pages covering project scope, line-item cost breakdown (hardware, software, services), 3-year sales uplift forecast, payback timeline and sensitivity analysis on key assumptions. , Board expectations: ROI threshold of ~15,20% with payback within 24 months. , Timeline: from initial submission to final sign-off usually aligns with two board cycles,roughly 4,6 weeks. 2) Key KPIs in our monthly finance reviews , Revenue vs. forecast (by country and product line) , Gross margin and margin variance , Opex and Capex spend vs. budget , Regional P&L performance and cash-flow impact , ROI realization on recent capex (payback progress, IRR) , Pipeline-to-order conversion rates and demo-lab utilization for localized offerings Hope this gives you a clear picture,let me know if you’d like more granularity on any point before our call on April 10. Looking forward to speaking then! Best, J***e

Hi C***n, Great questions. In our capex sensitivity models, ramp timing typically has the biggest impact on ROI,a 2,3 month delay in reaching full utilization can erode IRR by 4,6 points. Pricing assumptions are the next biggest lever (±5 % on ASPs moves ROI by 2,3 points), while services uptake (e.g. post‐sale integration or training) is important but generally drives smaller swings. To hit that 15,20 % ROI threshold, we target a demo-lab utilization rate of about 60,65 % annually. In practice that equates to roughly 12,13 fully booked days per month (or 1,2 customer engagements per day), which,combined with our expected ASPs and services attach rates,lands us squarely in the target band. Let me know if you’d like any further detail before our call. Looking forward to diving deeper on April 10! Best, J***e