Okta has appointed Sunil Kedaraji as vice president of channel and strategic alliances for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), putting the longtime channel executive in charge of its regional partner business as the identity vendor looks to drive partner-led growth and address emerging security challenges tied to AI adoption.
Based in Singapore, Kedaraji will work across Okta’s sales, alliances, channel, and go-to-market teams to deepen strategic partnerships, build partner capabilities, and expand the company’s reach across APJ.
Okta looks to strengthen APJ partner ecosystem
Based in Singapore, Kedaraji will work across Okta’s sales, alliances, channel, and go-to-market teams to deepen strategic partnerships, strengthen partner capabilities, and expand the company’s reach across APJ.
Dan Mountstephen, senior vice president and general manager for APJ at Okta, said partners remain central to the company’s regional growth strategy.
“Partners are fundamental to how we grow across APJ and help customers address increasingly complex security and technology environments,” Mountstephen said.
The regional focus on security is reflected in Omdia research, which found that 49% of APAC organizations ranked security and risk management among their top three priorities for 2026.
Kedaraji brings cybersecurity and identity channel experience
Mountstephen pointed to Kedaraji’s cybersecurity expertise as relevant to Okta’s regional partner strategy, and noted that Kedaraji brings more than 24 years of technology industry experience, including channel and partner leadership roles spanning cybersecurity and identity.
“Sunil brings deep experience building and scaling partner ecosystems across the region, along with a strong understanding of identity and cybersecurity,” Mountstephen said.
Mountstephen added that Kedaraji’s leadership will be focused on deepening strategic partnerships, expanding Okta’s reach, and creating additional opportunities for the company and its partners.
Prior to joining Okta, Kedaraji held leadership positions at Saviynt, SailPoint, Proofpoint, and Quest Software.
AI identity governance expands the partner opportunity
The appointment comes as Okta looks to increase partner-led growth in the region and address changing identity requirements created by enterprise adoption of AI and AI agents.
Those changes are also creating governance concerns for organizations adopting agentic AI.
Okta’s 2026 Businesses at Work research found that 58% of organizations cited AI governance and identity and access management as their top concern around AI agents. The report also found that 82% remained at limited to moderate levels of AI agent adoption.
With this, Okta sees partners playing a larger role in helping customers establish identity controls for AI alongside workforce and customer identities.
“There is a significant opportunity for Okta and our partners across APJ. Customers are moving quickly with AI, but they also need to understand how to secure it and manage the new identities and access it creates,” Kedaraji said.
Kedaraji said his priorities will include strengthening Okta’s APJ partner ecosystem and building partner capabilities as customers adapt their identity and access strategies.
“Partners have an important role to play in helping customers navigate that change,” Kedaraji said.
“My focus will be on working closely with our teams and partners to strengthen the ecosystem across APJ, build greater capability and create more opportunities for us to grow together.”
Futurum Research recently found AI adoption is outpacing ROI as organizations face growing governance and workforce challenges. Read more about what this gap could mean for MSPs and channel partners heading into 2027.