The Path to APAC Growth: Balancing Talent, Tech, and Market Volatility

Rachna Nazir is the Regional Talent Lead, Asia Pacific at Airbnb where she leads the Talent team across 7 countries and is a strategic partner to the regional leadership. She is a seasoned business leader bringing 17+ years’ of experience in Human Resources across varied industries ranging from technology, marketing communications, media to financial services. She has a successful track record in delivering high quality results in alignment with business objectives and company culture. Through different roles, Rachna has had the opportunity of marked global exposure to all areas of HR and organizational effectiveness. She was awarded ‘Southeast Asia Talent Person of the Year’ in 2015. Rachna is an experienced coach and currently a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and a certified SHRM – SCP (Senior Certified Professional) and a Certified Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) from the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). Outside of work, Rachna enjoys traveling, reading and spending quality time with her son. An avid Mindfulness enthusiast, she ensures to steal a few minutes everyday to catch up on her practice.

Subhankar is an acclaimed global HR leader and speaker, with extensive experience in reimagining leadership, organisational culture, and talent management practices to foster a more human-centric work environment in the digital age. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director and HR leader for Lenovo's Asia Pacific and Japan operations. Over the course of his two-decade career, Subhankar has spearheaded large-scale organisational transformations at multinational companies like Nokia and Lenovo, particularly in the high-growth markets of Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa regions. Subhankar’s previous HR consulting experience with PwC, IBM Global Business Services and Siemens Information Systems Consulting has involved enabling HR organisations to undergo transformative change through the adoption of HR technology solutions, HR analytics, and effective change management strategies. Subhankar maintains a keen interest in understanding the impact of digitisation and artificial intelligence on the future of the workforce. Based in Singapore, he is a vocal advocate and champion of diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and philanthropic initiatives across the Asia Pacific region.

Charlie has launched businesses, both inside and independent of corporate environments, in many countries, touching several different verticals and market segments. His recent executive management positions have focused on talent acquisition, team building, sales acceleration, marketing management, solution modelling and brand development for both multinational corporation and sole proprietor environments. Although born in the USA, Charlie grew up in Asia and is now a citizen of Singapore and a permanent resident in both Australia and New Zealand, giving him a unique perspective on the APAC region.