What does it actually take to build a high-performing sales culture in Asia — in the age of AI? Charlene Tan, Head of Asia at Qualtrics and a 20-year veteran of Oracle, SAP, Workday and Splunk, doesn't hold back. In this conversation, she breaks down the two behaviors that silently make or break sales culture, why your top performer might be your biggest liability, how her reps are using AI to walk into negotiations sharper than ever, and why in Asia — no matter how good your tech is — trust is still the only currency that matters. Honest, direct, and packed with nuggets!

Charles Ferguson is a seasoned business leader, entrepreneur and growth advisor in Asia with an impressive 30 year career with Intel, Microsoft, SalesForce, SAP, ADP and GP.
However, his journey was anything but conventional! An American boy who spent his formative years in Indonesia, went home to the US for University and returned to Asia to build a career in Tech (and owned a Jazz Bar in Shanghai along the way).
What stands out isn’t just his experience, but his philosophy that he fully embraces as a citizen of Asia for more than 30 years.

In this episode, we unpack “The Sales Pipeline Illusion” through the lens of B2B selling in Indonesia, one of Southeast Asia’s largest and most complex markets.

Featuring insights from Kidung Ajisurya, Sales Director at Bureau Veritas, the conversation explores why seemingly healthy pipelines often fail to convert, and what sales leaders can do to change that.

We navigate multi-layered stakeholders and relationship-driven decision-making in Indonesia to understanding cultural nuances to unveil what selling in Indonesia is like.

Here, activity doesn’t equal progress, a “polite yes” can mean “silent no,” and trust takes years to build.