About

A leading figure in Asia’s telecommunications market, Equinix’s ‘outstanding’ Asia Pacific vice president Yolande Goh is the first to admit not everything in her career has followed a pre-designed plan. ‘I graduated during the Asian financial crisis,’ she explains. She joined StarHub prior to the company being launched as the second telco in Singapore, and was first headhunted for Equinix in 2004, where she relished the challenge of moving to a start-up environment. ‘The person who asked me to join is very smart and I had great respect for her.’ Goh has been involved in a number of ground-breaking transactions during her 10 years at the company. ‘I wouldn’t say I had one biggest achievement,’ she reflects. ‘I do something different every year in this role. I could be doing an M&A deal across three jurisdictions. We do something significant every year.’ As an example, the company plans to convert to a REIT during 2014: ‘This is something very few people in the world do. It’s a massive exercise.’ Goh has built an ‘amazing team’ of highly skilled senior lawyers. ‘I’ve managed to find people who have recommended each other, so we’re all connected.’ She has also taken steps to improve efficiency with initiatives like moving to a paperless system. Most of all, she is quick to emphasise how much she has been empowered by the organisation. ‘It’s a different, refreshing approach compared to other companies. From the outset you really work as a business partner, and it’s something people immediately sense’.