SAS has announced the appointment of Maria Aileen Rodriguez as the new Managing Director for the Philippines as of April 12. Reporting to SAS Vice President for ASEAN Remco den Heijer, she will lead the Philippine team to expand the SAS market presence in the country, as well as to drive channel partnership development and enhance customer satisfaction.

Rodriguez has over 20 years of senior leadership experience with technology multinationals. Prior to SAS, she was the Country General Manager for NTT Philippines, and before that held country and regional leadership positions at IBM, including ASEAN Executive, Software Channels at IBM Philippines, Country Manager for IBM's Software Group in Manila, and Country Manager for Financial Services Sector for the Philippines and Vietnam.

den Heijer pointed out her regional experience as a deciding factor in the new appointment, saying: “Aileen's deep experience in the technology industry in the Philippines and across the region gives her a depth of insight that will position her to bring the SAS business in the country to the next level, and effectively address the challenges our customers are facing today.”

Rodriguez said: “During my career I have seen many organizations across the Southeast Asia region prosper from undertaking their digital transformation journey. In the Philippines, our pandemic-driven lockdown has exposed many businesses to the digital economy, accelerating digital transformation. There are many opportunities for SAS to help Philippine companies through advanced analytics and empower them with insights for timely business decisions. I look forward to helping more customers transform their businesses with SAS.