Google has announced two senior leadership appointments across its Asia-Pacific operations as the technology company moves to strengthen support for advertising agencies, creative businesses and technology partners in the region.
The company has appointed Caroline Oates to lead its Agency and Partners Team in Australia and New Zealand, while Aaron Boekestein will become managing director of Agency and Third-Party Ecosystems for Asia-Pacific, overseeing the wider regional partner network from Singapore.
The changes are designed to improve coordination between Google’s local operations and regional teams, while expanding the resources available to businesses working with the company across advertising, marketing and technology.
Brandspur Brand News reports that Oates will oversee commercial strategy and joint initiatives involving media agencies, technology firms and creative partners in Australia and New Zealand. She is expected to take up the position later in October 2026, drawing on 14 years of experience at Google.
She has spent the past nine years leading Google’s YouTube business in the Australian and New Zealand market, where she was responsible for advertising and programmatic sales. Oates also serves on the board of IAB Australia and helped establish the Video Futures Collective, reflecting her involvement in the wider digital advertising industry.
Boekestein’s new role will bring Google’s agency and third-party partner operations across Asia-Pacific under a unified structure. His previous responsibilities included leading the company’s Ads Partnerships team in Australia and New Zealand.
He brings more than 20 years of experience across agency leadership, marketing and technology, including a decade in senior Asia-Pacific positions in Australia and Singapore.
During his time in Australia and New Zealand, Boekestein expanded Google’s Honours programme into Accelerate with Google Expert and broadened the company’s Creator Marketing Partner coverage, initiatives aimed at strengthening engagement with industry partners.
Google also plans to increase its investment in partner support through specialised pre-sales engineering, partner training and automated capability-development pathways. The measures are intended to give agencies and technology partners greater access to expertise and resources as they work with Google’s advertising and other business offerings.
Mel Silva, Google’s managing director and vice-president for Australia and New Zealand, welcomed the appointments, saying the promotion of local executives to broader regional responsibilities reflected the company’s commitment to its partners.
The leadership changes place greater responsibility on the two executives to coordinate Google’s relationships with agencies and technology businesses across markets, as the company seeks to strengthen collaboration throughout Asia-Pacific.
