Ms Catherine Lian was appointed as Managing Director for IBM in Malaysia in 2019. In this role, she is responsible for all strategic and operational matters related to IBM’s sales, services, and delivery operations in Malaysia.

Catherine leads the IBM Malaysia team to help key stakeholders and clients put smart to work in their organisations by applying IBM’s leading AI, cognitive solutions, and cloud platform to advance digital transformation.

A Northern University of Malaysia graduate, Catherine’s stint with leadership roles began at Dell Technologies, where she worked for the past two decades before joining IBM Malaysia. Her last role was the Senior Director & Managing Director for Dell Indonesia, based in Jakarta. She has also held various management roles within Dell Technologies, covering the South Asia markets, including Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indochina, and Cambodia. Throughout her career, Catherine has been consistently recognised as the key leader in the IT industry, helping and enabling clients to innovate and succeed.

Catherine is a strong advocate for women in leadership in the IT Industry and was recognised at the Channel Asia Women in ICT Awards 2020 as the Highly Commended winner under the Achievement Category in the ASEAN region. She continues to mentor aspiring talents, believing that by leading the way, aspirants are empowered to create thriving and sustainable communities.

Catherine has been appointed as the PIKOM (The National Tech Association of Malaysia) Councillor in 2021. She has held key positions in the association, including Chairman for Women in Tech 2022, Chairman for Tech Fest 2022 and Deputy Chairman for IR 4.0 SIG 2022.

In 2022, Prestige Magazine Malaysia recognised Catherine as one of the 100 nation’s most influential Women of Power.

She is also recognised as the winner of the Channel Asia Women in ICT Awards under the Achievement category. Catherine won this award in recognition of a management career spanning more than two decades in Malaysia and South Asia, built on the foundations of business growth, customer success and individual mentoring.

Recently, Catherine was recognised by Tech Wire Asia as one of the five Most Influential Women in Technology.