Criteo Appoints Kenneth Pao as Executive Managing Director for APAC to Accelerate Growth Across the Region

Criteo , the advertising platform for the open internet, officially announced the appointment of Kenneth Pao, Executive Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, to lead one of the fastest-growing regions for the company. Pao will provide strategic direction and further accelerate the growth of Criteo’s business in the Asia-Pacific region, whose current portfolio of customers include Yahoo! JAPAN, Coupang, LFmall, THE ICONIC, The Good Guys, ZALORA, TIKI, Sendo.vn, Tata CLIQ and NYKAA etc.

Based in Tokyo, Pao will oversee Criteo’s key operations in Australia, China, Japan, India, Singapore and South Korea. He will work closely with his regional leadership team to drive new business development and strengthen Criteo’s existing advertiser and partner relationships. Criteo also has customers in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam etc.

“With his proven track record in the Asia-Pacific region, specifically Japan and Greater China, Kenneth brings more than nine years of leadership experience within the retail and advertising technology industry,” said Gregory Gazagne, Executive Vice President, Global Revenue & Operations, Criteo. “We are excited to have him on board, where he will advance Criteo’s vision to be the platform of choice for the open internet across this dynamic region.”

“The artificial intelligence market is set to grow to $136 billion by 2025 in Asia-Pacific[1]. Omni-channel customers in the region generate 27 percent of sales despite only representing 7 percent of all customers[2]. These trends are transforming how digital businesses operate and engage with end-users across Asia-Pacific. We continue to see untapped growth potential. Thus, our goal is to provide retailers, brands, and publishers of all sizes with the data and technology they need to best serve their customers. Through its commitment to R&D and laser-focus on developing high-performance solutions, Criteo can spearhead new developments in this space. I look forward to working with some of the best talents in the industry,” said Pao.

Pao joins Criteo after almost seven years at Videology Group, a software provider for digital video and TV advertising. He was the APAC Managing Director and then the Chief Revenue and Operations Officer, where he drove business growth by building new revenue streams and value propositions for new and existing clients. Prior to Videology, Pao was also a Co-Founder and Board Member at Willem-Aidan and Co-CEO of Retail and Direct Distribution at Esquel Group.

In Q4 2018, Criteo ended the quarter with over 19,500 commerce and brand clients. This was a 7 percent increase from 2018’s, with close to 90 percent client retention rate. Its app business grew 54 percent year-over-year globally. In Fiscal Year 2018, Criteo’s APAC revenue increased by 6 percent year-over-year, to $223 million, accounting for 23 percent of the company’s total revenue.