Japan is notoriously one the hardest markets for foreign companies to crack. But great rewards await those who commit to it!

Allan Teng, co-founder of Workato APAC and General Manager/VP of Workato Japan, to unpacks what it actually takes to win Japan as an outsider.

He breaks down why “speed comes after trust” isn’t just a cultural observation but an operational principle that should reshape how you build your go-to-market strategy, structure your sales team, and invest your resources.

He inherited an underperforming team, dismantled a culture of siloed processes, and led Workato Japan from 50% of target to 150%, without speaking a word of Japanese when he arrived.

You’ll hear why Japan rewards long-game commitment over short-term hustle, how foreign leaders can actually use their outsider status as a competitive advantage, and why over-investing in customer success, not sales headcount, is what unlocks this market.

“Culture” and “cultivate” share the same root word. But culture just doesn’t appear overnight. It needs to thoughtfully cultivated.

So, what does it actually take to build a high-performing sales culture in Asia?

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 behaviors that silently make or break sales culture, why your top performer might be your biggest liability, and how leaders are “Thermometers, and not thermostat”.

Now, 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!

As a leader, your teams trust only what they see, feel and observe, not what they are told. Take it from someone who has scaled and led teams in Asia, not as an outsider but who sets examples by getting his hands dirty.

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.

He gives his take on what the West gets wrong about leading in Asia, a time and battle tested framework for identifying and building leaders, and how “relationships in Asia aren’t a strategy, but the result!”

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.