SAS, the leader in business intelligence, has appointed Riad Gydien as the head of operations for the Africa and Middle East region in addition to his duties as the South African country manager.
Gydien has been in his role of country manager of the South African region since 2007 and will assume his new role with immediate effect, reporting directly to Mikael Hagstr"om, Executive Vice-President of SAS EMEA and Asia Pacific Operations.
“SAS South Africa has seen remarkable revenue growth in the last several months, and I would like to further build on Riad's proven leadership to help ensure success for the entire region,” states Hagstr"om. “I have every confidence in Riad, who will be working with the management team in SAS Africa and the Middle East to improve on the successes we have begun experiencing in the region.”
Gydien is known in his role as country manager for his hands-on approach to the operations of the business and has established strong relations with SAS's clients directly.
In his new role he will be responsible for guiding the sales strategy as well as operations throughout Africa, Middle East and South Africa, in addition to building and maintaining strong customer relationships, and partner relations.
“I am looking forward to the opportunities ahead,” says Gydien. “While I am now responsible for a sizable geography with massive potential, I would not have taken on this challenge were I not supremely confident in the abilities of the current South African team to continue to build on what has been a very strong foundation laid so far this year.
“I intend to remain as engaged as I have been in the South African business, and am excited about the future prospects the expanded region presents all of us at SAS.”
Gydien has extensive knowledge in the BI space, having worked in executive positions with a number of BI-focused technology companies, gaining experience with a variety of BI solutions. He has held senior positions at Fios, Global Technology and Sekunjalo Investments on top of serving a tenure in Saudi Arabia as head of Sales and Marketing at Thimar Al Jazirah.
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