Sapiens, the global leader in digital transformation for Insurance, has made a significant appointment to its APAC leadership team. Krish Datta has joined the role of Executive Vice President, APAC. Datta will lead the operation in the APAC region and be responsible for its go-to-market strategy, customer growth, and regional operations. Sapiens has several offices in Asia, including India, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, China and Australia.
The appointment follows several announcements that underscore a renewed vigour and ambition under Executive Chairman and interim CEO Mike Ettling. Earlier this month, the firm appointed Kellen Petersen as EVP Sales, Americas.
Sapiens Executive Chairman and interim CEO Mike Ettling said, “Krish and I have worked together across some of the most demanding markets in enterprise software, and I have seen first-hand what he can build – bringing him to Sapiens to lead our APAC charge is one of the most important moves we are making as we take our agentic AI vision to insurers around the world.”
Earlier in the year, Sapiens received a minority investment from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). In May its launched, the Insurance Agentification program. It is a new suite of agentic products – Agentic Claims, Agentic Underwriting, and Agentic Policy. They are built on a Central Agentic Framework, which connects an insurer’s core systems to their AI strategy through a single, governed insurance ontology.
The firm also opened an AI Customer Experience Lab at its new London headquarters in Holborn’s Space House.
James Hannay, Chief Revenue Officer, Sapiens, said, “Krish brings exactly the combination we need to accelerate in APAC: deep insurance technology roots, a track record of building enterprise platform businesses from the ground up, and a sharp instinct for where AI is taking the industry.
“He has seen the market from every angle – as a builder, as a dealmaker, and as an investor. I have no doubt he will drive significant growth and raise our profile across the region.”
Who is Krish Datta
Datta worked with Ettling when they were both at SAP. He spent over 15 years at the global ERP firm, rising to President, SAP, South East Asia and Emerging Markets. He also spent 8 years at BackOffice Associates as CEO Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Datta left BackOffice and co-founded XAMPR in Singapore, and most recently was a mentor and advisor to several firms in Asia.
Datta has over 35 years of experience working across enterprise software in the Asia Pacficic region. He built the SAP South East Asia business to over $500 million in revenue, scaled Syniti’s APJ operation from inception to over 30 million annually and launched Credence—tech to achieve a significant cloud and sovereign platform within 18 months.
He also has experience working in the Insurance sector. Having spent several years at Apex Systems as a regional business manager running operations in Malaysia and Thailand, increasing the business by 10X. Krish’s recent board-level experience advising on AI decisioning platforms gives Sapiens a clearer view of what insurers need to succeed.
Krish Datta, Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific, Sapiens, commented, “Insurance is one of the industries where agentic AI will create the most profound change – and Sapiens is the partner that understands both the technology and the domain at the depth required to make that change real.
“APAC is not a peripheral market in this story: it is a proving ground. I am excited to join Sapiens at a time when we can help insurers make faster decisions, respond to risk in real time, and become genuinely autonomous enterprises, while making digital transformation a reality.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
Sapiens is hiring experienced leaders to accelerate growth within the regions it operates. There are likley to be a second round of recruitment as the leaders look to expand their teams. Within APAC, Sapines currently has open roles in India and Thailand. More openings may follow as Datta looks to grow his team and target growth across the region.
With the launch of the Insurance Agentification program and these appointments, Sapiens is a company that might change how Insurance leverages AI in the future.
