
Datadog appoints Adrian Towsey to drive APJ commercial growth
Datadog has appointed Adrian Towsey as Vice President of Commercial Sales for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), including India, in a newly created executive role.
Towsey joins the cloud applications monitoring and security platform provider with more than 25 years of sales and consulting experience in the commercial technology sector. He most recently held local and regional leadership positions at Salesforce for 12 years, after previous roles at telecommunications services providers such as Vodafone and Telstra.
Appointment and experience
This new position has been established to enhance the company's regional expansion efforts, leveraging Towsey's sales background and deep understanding of the APJ market. He will be responsible for supporting customers' cloud migrations, security projects, and generative AI initiatives amid growing complexity in technology strategies across the region.
Speaking about his appointment, Towsey said, "After learning about Datadog from industry peers, I quickly discovered the company combines the best of both worlds: a comprehensive platform that enables customers to observe, secure and act on their cloud migrations, security and AI projects, plus a unique culture present across all teams."
Towsey will report directly to Bill Kohut, Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Datadog. Kohut commented on the significance of the appointment for the company's APJ operations. Adrian's extensive experience in cloud software and regional go-to-market models will be instrumental in expanding our footprint across the diverse APJ commercial space. Working alongside our midmarket and enterprise teams, his understanding of the unique needs of our customers and partners in this region puts Datadog in an even stronger position to convert on expansion opportunities.
The appointment comes as Datadog continues to expand its leadership team, recently naming Yadi Narayana as Chief Technology Officer for APJ, and prepares to launch its first Australian data centre instance.
Regional market expansion
The company's increased executive focus coincides with a rise in technology investment across APJ, driving demand for enhanced monitoring, analytics, and security for cloud applications and infrastructure. Datadog is actively adding technical, sales, and marketing roles across Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN, India, Japan, and Korea in response.
The planned Australian data centre aims to support the data sovereignty and residency requirements of local customers and partners. With this move, Datadog seeks to better enable organisations in meeting regulatory obligations while leveraging cloud solutions.
Towsey's remit includes working with both midmarket and enterprise customers and collaborating closely with Datadog's regional teams to align services with varying industry and regulatory needs. The focus will be on providing solutions that allow organisations to monitor, secure, and optimise their technology environments as they adopt cloud and AI-based tools.
Datadog's platform brings together monitoring, application performance management, log management, user experience monitoring, and cloud security. The company's software-as-a-service approach is designed to deliver unified, real-time observability and security for technology stacks in organisations across different industry sectors and sizes.
As the APJ region's technology landscape evolves and market demand for cloud-based observability and security tools increases, Datadog plans to build out its local presence further. The addition of senior resources such as Towsey is expected to support customer engagement and growth across the region as companies shift towards digital transformation and greater adoption of cloud and AI technologies.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Techday NZ
3 hours ago
- Techday NZ
Salesforce unveils Agentforce 3 to accelerate enterprise AI adoption
Salesforce has released Agentforce 3, an upgrade to its enterprise AI agent platform designed to address key challenges faced by organisations scaling artificial intelligence implementation. The latest version introduces features that enhance visibility and control for enterprise users, moving AI agents from experimental use to full-scale deployment. More than 100 prebuilt actions, expanded interoperability options, and a centralised suite of tools for managing hybrid workforces are among the major enhancements. Agentforce Command Centre Agentforce 3 introduces the Command Centre, marketed as the first real-time observability suite specifically for hybrid workforces. It provides business leaders with a unified interface to monitor performance metrics across both AI agents and human team members. This monitoring is integrated into business key performance indicators (KPIs), aimed at supporting data-driven management and optimisation of workflow processes. The Command Centre includes dashboards detailing agent adoption, feedback, success rates, costs, and specific topic performance, enabling teams to analyse usage trends and identify areas for improvement. The system records all agent activity in a session-tracing data model leveraging Data Cloud and is compatible with monitoring tools such as Datadog, Splunk, and Wayfound through the OpenTelemetry standard. Teams and supervisors can also receive live analytics on latency, escalation frequency, and error rates with real-time alerts for anomalies, enabling prompt interventions to maintain service levels. For contact centres, agent activity can be monitored in real time, permitting quick performance escalations. Interoperability and Prebuilt Integrations Agentforce 3 expands interoperability with native support for open standards like Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent Protocol (A2A). The platform also integrates with more than 30 partners, including services such as Stripe, Box, Atlassian, AWS, Cisco, Google Cloud, IBM, Notion, PayPal, Teradata, and WRITER via its expanded AgentExchange. Built-in interoperability is intended to allow AI agents not only to communicate with one another, but with broader enterprise applications, creating a more connected digital workplace. Deployment and Usability The update aims to reduce deployment times, with over 100 new prebuilt industry actions and flexible pricing designed to enable companies to deploy agents within days rather than months. The new architecture underlying Agentforce 3 promises improvements in accuracy, latency, resiliency, and model control, the latter of which addresses the requirements of regulated industries. Agentforce Studio is a central space for building, testing, and optimising agents with the assistance of real-time analytics. It provides tools to simulate agent behaviour at scale and generate topics or test cases using natural language, with the goal of assisting teams in developing and deploying agents more efficiently. Customer Adoption Several organisations have already adopted Agentforce, including New Zealand-based companies such as Fisher & Paykel, Urban Rest, and Farm Focus, which cite benefits including task automation, enhanced customer engagement, and the ability for staff to focus on complex, people-centred work. According to Salesforce, Engine, Grupo Globo, PepsiCo, UChicago Medicine, and 1-800Accountant have reported measurable improvements: Engine reduced its average customer case handling time by 15%, 1-800Accountant autonomously resolved 70% of administrative chat engagements during the peak tax season, and Grupo Globo saw a 22% increase in subscriber retention. Adam Evans, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Salesforce AI, commented on the platform's development trajectory: "With Agentforce, we've unified agents, data, apps, and metadata to create a digital labour platform, helping thousands of companies realise the promise of agentic AI today," said Adam Evans, EVP & GM of Salesforce AI. Evans added: "Over the past several months we've listened deeply to our customers and continued our rapid pace of technology innovation. The result is Agentforce 3, a major leap forward for our platform that brings greater intelligence, higher performance, and more trust and accountability to every Agentforce deployment. Agentforce 3 will redefine how humans and AI agents work together — driving breakthrough levels of productivity, efficiency, and business transformation." Ryan Teeples, Chief Technology Officer at 1-800Accountant, described their experience with the system: "Agentforce autonomously resolved 70% of 1-800Accountant's administrative chat engagements during the peak this past tax season, an incredible lift during one of our busiest periods. But that early success was just the beginning. We've established a strong deployment foundation and weekly are focused on launching new agentic experiences and AI automations through Agentforce's newest capabilities. With a high level of observability, we can see what's working, optimize in real time, and scale support with confidence," said Ryan Teeples, Chief Technology Officer at 1-800Accountant. AI Agent Adoption Trends Salesforce cited a soon-to-be-released Slack Workflow Index showing a 233% increase in AI agent usage in six months, with 8,000 customers signing up for Agentforce deployment during the same period. The platform is presented as a response to enterprise demands for improved governance, tooling, and observability in large-scale AI agent operations. Agentforce 3 is now available globally, with tools and integrations focused on supporting enterprise clients as they expand AI adoption within their organisations.


Techday NZ
4 hours ago
- Techday NZ
Refresh smarter, spend smarter: Why flexible IT financing is on the rise
In today's fast-paced business world, owning IT assets outright is becoming increasingly outdated. Technology evolves faster than ever, budgets are under pressure, and flexibility has become a top priority for Australian businesses of all sizes. Rather than investing large amounts of capital in depreciating assets, more businesses are shifting towards more intelligent and agile models, including leasing, financing, and structured refresh programmes. It's not just enterprise giants making the move; mid-sized organisations and growing SMEs are increasingly embracing flexible financing to stay competitive, manage risk, and keep their teams equipped with the latest technology. Here's why the traditional "own and operate" approach is losing its shine — and how a modern financing strategy can help future-proof your IT environment. Why Ownership is Losing Ground Owning technology used to be seen as a long-term investment. Today, it's often a liability. Rapid innovation cycles mean devices become outdated faster than ever. According to Deloitte's 2024 Tech Trends Australia report, 70% of mid-sized businesses plan to refresh major parts of their IT infrastructure within the next two years. Meanwhile, economic uncertainty and rising interest rates are prompting Australian businesses to reassess their capital allocation strategies. NAB's Business Insights show that nearly half of SMEs now prioritise cashflow preservation over asset accumulation. In short, holding onto ageing, depreciating assets ties up capital, increases operational risk, and limits flexibility when businesses need it most. Smarter Financing Options for a Changing Market Today's IT financing models are designed for flexibility and growth. Some of the most popular approaches include: Operating leases: Pay for the use of technology over a set period, without the burden of ownership. Upgrades and returns are built into the model. Pay for the use of technology over a set period, without the burden of ownership. Upgrades and returns are built into the model. Finance leases and chattel mortgages: Structure repayments over time, allowing businesses to own assets at the end if desired — while keeping cashflow healthy during the term. Structure repayments over time, allowing businesses to own assets at the end if desired — while keeping cashflow healthy during the term. Structured refresh programmes: Predetermined upgrade cycles that ensure businesses stay current, competitive, and efficient without spikes in capital expenditure. Predetermined upgrade cycles that ensure businesses stay current, competitive, and efficient without spikes in capital expenditure. Technology Lifecycle Solutions: Comprehensive asset management services that span procurement, usage, upcycling, and responsible retirement — helping to maximise value across the full lifecycle. Leading financial service providers are offering new models that combine financing flexibility with sustainability initiatives, enabling businesses to extend, optimise, or responsibly retire IT assets through services like Asset Upcycling and Tech Buyback programmes. The Business Benefits of Moving to Finance-First Models Free up capital for growth Redirect funds from depreciating equipment to strategic investments, like customer growth, talent acquisition, or innovation projects. Stay agile and current Regular refresh cycles ensure your teams always have access to the latest, most secure technology without the costs and delays of large-scale replacements. Improve security and compliance Older hardware often lags in critical security updates. A structured refresh strategy enables businesses to maintain a strong cybersecurity posture and meet evolving compliance standards. Advance sustainability goals Circular economy models, such as asset upcycling and technology recycling, facilitate the achievement of environmental targets while often recovering residual value from retired assets. Gain predictability and control Fixed monthly costs, flexible end-of-term options, and streamlined asset management help businesses plan better and avoid budget surprises. What to Consider Before Moving to a Finance Model Choosing the right financing strategy means balancing operational needs with financial and strategic goals. Important questions include: How fast does technology evolve in your sector, and how often should you refresh? Do you require full lifecycle support, including maintenance, upgrades, and end-of-life recycling services? Is preserving cash flow and balance sheet flexibility a major driver? How important are sustainability and circular economy initiatives to your business stakeholders? Are you planning for hybrid workforces or technology expansion in the near term? An experienced IT partner can help model various scenarios and design a solution that aligns with both your business and technology objectives. How BPC Commercial Can Help At BPC Commercial, we work closely with businesses across Australia to deliver flexible, cost-effective IT financing solutions. Whether you're looking for a simple lease agreement, a structured refresh programme, or a full Technology Lifecycle Solution with sustainable asset retirement, we can tailor a strategy that supports your growth. We partner with trusted finance providers to ensure our customers get access to the most modern, efficient, and sustainable financing and asset management options available today.


NZ Herald
6 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Donated Colin McCahon and Don Binney works could raise $1m for Auckland art foundation
A 1966 Don Binney painting of a fernbird, donated by Australian philanthropist Dr John Mayo, could raise up to $600,000 at a fundraising auction for the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation. Three paintings bought by a young female law graduate in the 1960s could deliver a $1 million-plus windfall for the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation. The works by Colin McCahon, Don Binney and Richard Killeen will be auctioned in August by Art+Object, with all proceeds going to an endowment fund administered