IBM veteran Steven Worrall has been selected to succeed Pip Marlow as the managing director of Microsoft Australia on 1 January.
Marlow will depart the company after 21 years of service, including six years as its managing director, in late January to join Suncorp in the newly-created position of Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Innovation.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Asia, Ralph Haupter thanked Marlow for her outstanding leadership and commitment to Microsoft and wished her all the best in her new role at Suncorp.
“Pip has been an exceptional leader for Microsoft Australia and will be greatly missed,” he said. “Her strong leadership, passion and determination to continually improve Microsoft for our customers, partners, employees and the wider community has been truly inspirational. She has made a tremendous contribution and impact,” he said.
During her time as Managing Director, Pip launched two Cloud Datacentre regions in Australia and opened the doors to Microsoft’s first flagship store outside of North America. She has advocated for greater diversity and inclusion in the workplace, championed the need for STEM education and was recognised as one of the Australian Financial Review’s Women of Influence.
According to Pip Marlow: “Working at Microsoft and leading such a talented team of people has been the highlight of my career. After two decades, it is time to move to a new challenge. I leave the Australian business in excellent shape and I know that Steven will be a great and impactful leader.”
Haupter noted that Worrall, currently Microsoft Australia’s enterprise and partner group director, has a great track record in helping clients take advantage of the business and technological opportunities associated with innovation and business growth.
“We are very excited that Steven will take on the leadership of the Australian business,” he said. “Being able to choose a leader from within our ranks speaks to the strength of Pip’s leadership and will ensure minimal disruption to the strong momentum delivered by the Microsoft Australia leadership team.”
Prior to joining Microsoft in 2014, Steven Worrall led IBM’s Software business for the Asia Pacific region, providing a major source of IBM’s growth in the region. One of his primary responsibilities was to build IBM’s organisational capability across diverse markets across the region. He worked for IBM for 22 years and held a number of marketing, sales and general management roles during his career in the services, software and financing segments of the business.
According to Steven Worrall: “I am delighted to step into the role of Managing Director and have the opportunity to continue to work with the excellent leadership team we have in Australia. Pip has been a tremendous leader and the strength of our leadership team is a testament to Pip’s stewardship over the last six years. This is a unique time for our business and I look forward to playing my part and leading our team to deliver outstanding technology solutions and partnerships with our customers, partners, employees and communities.”
