Pax8 appoints Mel Thompson as APAC experience vice president

Pax8 has appointed Mel Thompson as Vice President of Experience for Asia-Pacific as the cloud marketplace company expands its presence across the region.

Thompson joins from Optus, where she was Head of Network Delivery Office. Her career also includes senior roles at Vodafone, One New Zealand and NBN Australia, with experience spanning telecommunications, operations, transformation and delivery.

In the new role, she will focus on the partner and vendor experience in APAC, with an emphasis on relationships across the regional ecosystem as Pax8 pursues further growth.

Her appointment adds another senior executive to Pax8's APAC leadership team under Executive Vice President and General Manager APAC Lindsay Keating. The business has been building its position in the region as part of a broader push to grow its marketplace for cloud buying, selling and management.

Pax8 works with a global partner ecosystem of more than 40,000 managed service providers, connecting partners, vendors and small to midsized businesses through its marketplace and support services.

Regional role

Thompson is known in the telecoms sector for her work on operating model design, delivery turnarounds and organisational change. Her background in partnership building and team leadership was a factor in the hire.

Keating said the appointment reflects Pax8's efforts to improve how it works with partners across APAC.

"Mel brings a powerful combination of operational leadership, strategic focus and people-first thinking to Pax8," said Lindsay Keating, Executive Vice President and General Manager APAC, Pax8.

"Her track record of building strong partnerships, leading through complexity and creating high-performing teams will be instrumental as we continue to elevate the experience we deliver for our partners across the region."

Thompson said the company's culture and partner focus were key reasons for joining.

"I'm incredibly excited to join Pax8 at such a pivotal time in its growth journey across APAC," said Mel Thompson, Vice President of Experience, APAC, Pax8.

"What drew me to Pax8 is its strong culture, commitment to innovation, and genuine focus on partner success. Throughout my career, I've been passionate about building high-performing teams, simplifying complexity, and creating experiences that help customers and partners thrive. I'm looking forward to working alongside the Pax8 team and our partners to further strengthen the experience we deliver, scale for the future, and support the next phase of growth and transformation across the region."

The hire reflects continued competition among technology distributors and cloud marketplaces to deepen ties with managed service providers in APAC. As software vendors and channel partners place more emphasis on recurring cloud revenue, companies across the sector have been investing in leadership roles tied to partner support, delivery and operations.

Pax8 has positioned itself around serving managed service providers that buy and manage cloud products on behalf of smaller business customers. In APAC, that means building local teams and partner relationships in markets where cloud adoption and channel models continue to evolve.

For Thompson, the move marks a shift from telecommunications infrastructure and delivery into a software- and channel-focused business. For Pax8, it adds an executive with experience overseeing large operational functions and managing complex change programmes.

Thompson also has a record of promoting organisational culture and diversity and inclusion, areas that have become a larger part of leadership mandates across technology businesses seeking to recruit and retain staff in competitive labour markets.

Her appointment comes as Pax8 looks to strengthen the experience it offers partners and vendors in APAC through closer engagement across its ecosystem. Thompson will support that work across the region.