Google has widened Sapna Chadha’s remit, elevating her to Vice President, APAC Ads Go-to-Market Strategy and Operations. The change puts her in charge of shaping business strategy and growth priorities across Google’s advertising business in Asia Pacific, including resource allocation, product commercialisation, sales operations and business intelligence.
Chadha announced the move on LinkedIn, saying the region has “every ingredient to define the global pace of this transformation.” Her stated focus is to build a scalable engine that helps businesses working with Google lead the AI-led shift, not just adapt to it.
Why this matters for marketers
The elevation is more than a personnel change. It consolidates Google’s APAC ads go-to-market strategy under one leader at a time when the company is pushing AI-powered discovery, YouTube and video-led commerce deeper into Southeast Asia.
At Google Marketing Live Southeast Asia in Singapore in July, Google showcased new advertising capabilities that combine AI-powered Search features with YouTube’s creator ecosystem. The goal is to move consumers from product discovery to purchase more efficiently.
Google said video commerce in Southeast Asia grew fivefold between 2022 and 2025 and now accounts for about 25% of the region’s total eCommerce gross merchandise value.
What Chadha will prioritize
- Set business strategy and growth priorities across APAC ads
- Oversee resource allocation and product commercialisation
- Strengthen sales operations and business intelligence
- Turn Google AI capabilities into measurable advertiser outcomes
For marketing teams, the leadership shift is a useful signal. Google is aligning go-to-market operations around AI and video commerce, which suggests brands with APAC ambitions should test AI-assisted Search campaigns and YouTube creator-led commerce formats now, while benchmarks are still being set.
A career built across marketing and markets
Chadha has spent more than a decade at Google. She joined in 2014 as Head of Small and Medium-sized Business Marketing for India, later became Head of Marketing for India, and then took on regional marketing leadership roles across Southeast Asia and India. Before her latest move, she spent nearly four years as Vice President for Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier, leading business across Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Pakistan.
Earlier, she spent around ten years with American Express, including as Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of American Express Banking Corp in India.
Source: MediaNews4U
