Within less than a week, two multinational companies from different\nsectors announced new general managers for the Indonesian market:\nMicrosoft through an official announcement on 15 June, and Mars Snacking\nvia a direct statement from its new GM in the same week. The two\nappointments arose from different circumstances. At Microsoft, the\nleadership change occurs amidst an ongoing US$1.7 billion investment\ncommitment for cloud and AI infrastructure in Indonesia. Meanwhile at\nMars Snacking, the newly created role emerged from the post-acquisition\nintegration of Kellanova, which was completed in December 2025.<\/p>\n
Gunawan Susanto has been appointed Country General Manager for\nIndonesia, replacing Dharma Simorangkur who had led the local operations\nsince 2022. Gunawan is not an internal appointment; he joins from Amazon\nWeb Services Indonesia, a direct competitor of Microsoft in the cloud\nmarket, where he spent a decade leading the cloud giant\u2019s business in\nthe country. Prior to AWS, IBM appointed him as President Director of\nIndonesia in 2014, when he was around 35 years old, reportedly making\nhim one of the youngest leaders to hold that position. In 2016, he moved\nto AWS, building the company\u2019s cloud business in Indonesia from the\nground up. Before joining Microsoft, he invested in the healthcare\nsector through a private equity fund and served as an Independent\nCommissioner at PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel). Microsoft\u2019s\nElevate programme, a key AI talent development initiative in Indonesia,\nhas reached more than two million participants, with over 1.2 million\nearning company-recognised credentials. As Country General Manager,\nGunawan will lead Microsoft\u2019s business and partnerships across the\npublic sector, large enterprises, startups, and small and medium\nbusinesses. \u201cI am inspired by the potential to leverage Microsoft\u2019s\ncapabilities to support Indonesia\u2019s digital transformation, while\nadvancing my personal mission to improve healthcare access for every\nIndonesian citizen,\u201d Gunawan said. Mayank Wadhwa, President of Microsoft\nASEAN, described Indonesia as one of the most influential digital\neconomies in Asia, with the scale, talent, and ambition to lead in the\nAI era.<\/p>\n
Sanjib Bose\u2019s new role did not previously exist in its current form.\nAfter Mars completed its acquisition of Kellanova in December 2025, the\ncompany merged two previously standalone organisations into a single\nentity called Mars Snacking, with a portfolio that now includes\nSnickers, M&M\u2019s, Twix, Skittles, and Pringles. The General Manager\nIndonesia & Vietnam position is one of the roles created from this\nrestructuring. Sanjib brings a decade of experience at Kellogg before\njoining Mars four years ago. An INSEAD graduate, he built Digital\nCommerce capabilities across Asia from scratch and led the turnaround of\nthe Philippines business during his tenure. \u201cWe have a unique\nopportunity to unlock the full potential of this portfolio in two of the\nworld\u2019s most dynamic and exciting consumer markets,\u201d Sanjib wrote in the\nannouncement via LinkedIn.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/microsoft-and-mars-snacking-appoint-new-general-managers-for-indonesia-1781779811", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }