Elastic names Sarah Croft APAC Partner Director to boost AI focus
Elastic has appointed Sarah Croft as Partner Director for Asia Pacific, as the company aims to strengthen its partner network and support AI-led adoption across the region. Croft steps into the position following more than a decade in enterprise technology, most recently at Datadog, where she focused on alliances and channel business in South Asia.
Leadership experience
Croft will be based in Singapore and take responsibility for Elastic's partner strategy throughout Asia Pacific. Her remit includes guiding partners as they build solutions using the Elasticsearch Platform and working with them to develop and execute go-to-market strategies.
During her six years at Datadog, Croft was involved in expanding the company's cloud-focused alliances and supporting the growth of key resellers in the region. This experience aligns with Elastic's plans to expand its influence and capabilities through an AI-ready network of partners.
APAC focus
Elastic is focusing on building a coordinated network of partners who can support companies seeking to leverage AI in observability and security. The company aims to offer its partners technical support and enablement resources, with the broader goal of fostering a reliable partner ecosystem throughout Asia Pacific.
"Driving impact with AI across APAC will depend on the strength of our partner ecosystem, and we're committed to enabling, educating, and celebrating the accomplishments made with our partners to build a strong reputation as a trusted driver of innovation," said Sanjay Deshmukh, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Elastic. "Sarah's experience in building partnerships and knowledge of the observability and security space will define the growth of Elastic's APAC channel business and accelerate the value our partners and their customers get from AI."
Partner strategy
Croft's work will concentrate on helping partners extract more value from the Elasticsearch Platform, with an emphasis on using AI to manage unstructured data and deliver business outcomes. Elastic takes the position that its technology's ability to turn data into actionable intelligence can offer its partners differentiation in the competitive APAC market.
Elastic's partner approach places a priority on collaboration, with the aim of supporting the region's partners to build their own AI-led observability and security offerings.
"AI advantage comes down to one thing: context. If you can't connect intelligence to the right data at the right moment, you don't get outcomes. The Elasticsearch Platform was built for exactly that, turning messy, unstructured data into action. That gives partners in APAC a real competitive edge as they build AI-led observability and security practices. Ecosystems, not vendors, will win the next wave of AI adoption in this region, and I'm excited to build and nurture lasting relationships with our partners in the region," said Croft.
