INSIGHTS / LEADERSHIP & MARKET ENTRY
What building Japan takes.
Company case studies on leadership, hiring and market entry. Public-record analysis sits alongside searches we have run ourselves.
Discuss a search →MURRAY CLARKE / FOUNDING PARTNER
Experience, applied with AI.
I’m Murray Clarke, founding partner of Aspiring Partners. I’ve spent more than 20 years in executive search in Japan, helping build four search firms. That includes years helping VMware hire its leadership team, two years internally during hypergrowth, and the executive-search joint venture I built with ManpowerGroup before selling my interest to the group.
These case studies connect the decisions behind a Japan leadership hire with what happens in the business afterwards. Some cover searches we ran; others analyse public company records.
This time, we’ve built our own platform and use AI extensively in the work. It helps me apply that experience more broadly in support of candidates, clients and the recruiters working with us. The technology supports the research and preparation; I remain accountable for the judgment and relationships.
More about Murray and Aspiring Partners →Snowflake vs Databricks in Japan: two country-manager playbooks
Both entered Japan within eighteen months of each other and both won. What separated them was the order in which they hired, not the product and not the funding.
Celonis Japan: The Country Manager Hire That Was Won by a Back-Channel Reference
How the Celonis Japan country seat was filled: a full market map scored against the brief, then a back-channel reference that decided it at the close.
What Success Looks Like: The examples of nCino and Recorded Future
Japan judges a new entrant on visible commitment. What nCino and Recorded Future each put in place on the way in, and how quickly the market responded to it.
Glean Japan: How a $300M AI Company Is Building to Win Early
Glean has appointed Shoji Ozawa as Country Manager for Japan. A look at how a fast-growing AI company builds its Japan business well before it has to.
Workday Japan: The Lesson Is Not “Localise Everything”. It Is “Show Japan You Are Serious”.
Workday's turning point in Japan came from proving it was serious about the market. The specific commitments behind that message, and what they cost.
Zendesk Japan: From SMB to Enterprise, and a Warning for AI Entrants
Zendesk entered Japan in 2013 and won SMB quickly. Enterprise took five more years, a patient build and a deliberate addition of senior leadership.