Asana Names Jo Gaines as GM for APAC Region

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Monday, 18 May 2026

Jo Gaines has been named General Manager for Asia Pacific at Asana. This is a huge leap for the work management platform's regional operations.

In leading the company, Jo's role will include senior team leadership on strategy, acceleration of business growth in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), as well as development of partner-led initiatives in the region.

Her appointment comes after two and a half years of working at Asana, including 1 year as Head of Channel for APJ. She played a key role in widening the ecosystem through partnership, forming strategic alliances, enhancing the channel partner program, and driving partner learning and development.

Jo is a well-experienced professional with a career spanning over 20 years and various industries such as technology, media, marketing and digital transformation.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Jo Gaines has been named the General Manager APAC for Asana.
• For the last two decades, Gaines has been a prominent figure occupying key positions in a variety of technology and digital firms such as Salesforce.
• In addition to that, Jo is one of the co-founders of Breaking Glass.

She has worked with huge companies like Salesforce, Krux Digital, CBS, Yahoo, Kidspot, Sensis, BMCMedia, and Digital Media Options, to name a few.

Besides that, her various and thorough set of skills include raising sales, dealing with products, editorial work, research and development, and business strategy.

Jo is knowledgeable in digital innovation and technology consulting and she can lead big commercial teams that include more than 300 employees.

Based on her efficient forecasting methods she has been recognized for both increasing revenue and putting into operation customer-centric operational strategies.

Jo has constantly been the motivating factor at CBS Interactive Australia for the development and implementation of programmatic buying strategies which have played a part in the company's growth in the digital advertising market.

Jo has been a wonderful proponent of enterprise collaboration and harnessing AI to revolutionize the workplace at Asana. Her leadership approach perfectly fits with the company's general trend towards making artificial intelligence a part of the tools that aid workplace productivity and team coordination. Recently, Asana has launched features like AI-assisted project execution through ChatGPT integrations and the availability of AI teammates for collaborative work to enhance organizational workflows.

Apart from her business persona, Jo is a deeply committed leader who is very active in women's leadership and inclusion. She is the co-founder of Breaking Glass, a members-only organization which is a safe community for senior executive women where they can network, get mentorship, attend educational sessions, and find job opportunities.

Kevin Knieriem, Asana's Chief Revenue Officer, is yet another professional who brings in more than two decades' worth of experience. In his comments about the decision to appoint her, Kevin stated, “From the moment I started working with Jo, it was clear she was the right leader for this region and this moment. She has spent over two decades building technology businesses across the Asia Pacific. She knows this region deeply, she knows our customers, and she knows how to build.”

With such an impressive background in the region, including leadership skills and innovation, Jo Gaines is very likely to make an important contribution to Asana’s growth in the Asia-Pacific region.