SAP appoints Ellian Teo as Malaysia managing director

SAP has appointed Ellian Teo as Country Managing Director for Malaysia, placing her in charge of the company’s strategy, operations and customer success in the country.

Teo will report to Liher Urbizu, President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia. In her new role, she will work with Malaysian businesses on digital transformation, with a focus on cloud, data and artificial intelligence.

Teo brings more than two decades of enterprise technology experience and has worked with organisations across financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, government-linked companies and large Malaysian enterprises. Her experience also includes working with boards, C-suite executives, regulators, policymakers and technology ecosystems on large-scale transformation programmes.

“Malaysia continues to be an important market for SAP, with organisations across industries focused on modernising their operations and adopting AI responsibly to deliver tangible business outcomes,” said Urbizu. 

“Ellian brings deep enterprise technology experience, strong customer relationships and a clear focus on people, partnerships and execution. I am confident she will build on the strong foundations laid by her predecessor and will play an important role in supporting our customers and partners in Malaysia as they move from intelligence to impact and accelerate their transformation and AI journeys.”

Teo said her priorities would include strengthening customer relationships, developing SAP’s workforce and expanding partnerships as businesses increase their use of digital technologies and AI.

“I am honoured to join SAP Malaysia as Country Managing Director. SAP is uniquely positioned at the intersection of business transformation, data and AI, and we have a strong opportunity to help organisations rethink how they operate, innovate and grow. My focus will be on deepening customer trust, empowering our people, strengthening our ecosystem partnerships and helping Malaysian organisations realise tangible business value from digital and AI transformation,” she said.

Beyond her corporate role, Teo has been involved in initiatives supporting women in leadership, technology and AI. She has participated in the 30% Club community and women-in-technology initiatives, including mentoring efforts for women pursuing careers in cloud, data and AI.

Teo succeeds Vipin Chandran, who has relocated to Singapore with SAP.

The appointment comes as Malaysian organisations continue to invest in cloud technologies, data capabilities and AI as part of broader efforts to modernise operations and improve business resilience.