New MD for Sony Professional Solutions MEA
Published: MEA
UAE: Rob Sherman has been appointed to the position of managing director of Sony Professional Solutions MEA: a role in which he hopes will enable him to deliver ‘innovative, customised, and fully integrated business solutions that are especially tailored to the needs of our regional customers’.
Based at the company’s MEA headquarters at the International Media Production Zone in Dubai, in his new role Mr Sherman is responsible for working with regional teams to promote Sony Professional’s presence in the area and further expand the company’s business across the MEA markets.
‘My ultimate goal is to ensure that our customers continue to receive reliable and responsive customer support,’ Mr Sherman asserted. ‘We are committed to assisting the broadcast industry to develop further by increasing service support in emerging African markets in particular, and to developing talent in the MEA regional team.’
Having being born in Baghdad and raised in Kuwait as a child, Mr Sherman reports that his interest in working within the region stems from this upbringing, and has been an important factor in his choice to continue to return to the region to work periodically throughout his career.
Mr Sherman started his career at Sony in 1987 working within the broadcast and B2B industry segments in Dubai, the UK, Portugal, and central and Eastern Europe, before moving on to lead the B2B business division for the Dubai branch between 1993 and 1997.
Mr Sherman returned to the company in 2005 to head up the company’s MEA division for three years, and between 2008 and 2011 took charge of Sony Professional’s CEMA region. Prior to joining the company, Mr Sherman was a sales executive at Racal Electronics, and has also served as an officer in the Royal Navy for approximately eight years.
‘On a professional level, I bring a global outlook with local perspective to provide leadership to the Sony Professional Solutions MEA team,’ he explained. ‘The size of the Middle East and African market is enormous, and the level of development and investment in pockets of this geography are incredibly exciting,’ he enthused.
Admitting that returning to head the Middle East and Africa operation ‘feels like coming home,’ Mr Sherman continued: ‘I know the market well and hope to build on the achievements of the team based here. This region is incredibly important to Sony Professional and I hope to bring the knowledge, experience and expertise that the team and our customers are looking for,’ he furthered.
‘Rob’s extensive experience in the Middle East and Africa region speaks volumes,’ said Shuji Okada, general marketing manager, Sony Professional Solutions MEA. ‘I am certain that his commitment and understanding of our customers will prove to be an asset to us.’