New Relic appoints Simon Rizkalla as VP of Customer Advocacy for Asia-Pacific and Japan

In his new role, Rizkalla will concentrate on deepening customer engagement throughout APJ, assisting businesses in fast-tracking the adoption of New Relic’s solutions, addressing key challenges, and reaching their observability goals

New Relic, a leader in Intelligent Observability, has announced the appointment of Simon Rizkalla as Vice President of Customer Advocacy for the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region. Rizkalla, based in Singapore, brings over 25 years of experience in enterprise SaaS, AI, and digital infrastructure. Prior to joining New Relic, he was co-founder and CEO of HybridAI and has held senior roles at major companies including Cisco, Red Hat, and Alcatel-Lucent.

In his new role, Rizkalla will focus on strengthening customer relationships across APJ, helping businesses accelerate adoption of New Relic’s solutions, overcome critical challenges, and achieve their observability objectives.

Rob Newell, New Relic’s Senior Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific and Japan, praised the appointment, saying, “The depth and breadth of experience that Simon holds—particularly within the Asia Pacific observability space—makes him a perfect fit for the role. Asia Pacific is a critical growth region for New Relic. I have no doubt that Simon’s passion for leading high performing teams, coupled with his ethos of making customer success the heart of everything he does, will take our team and valued customers to new heights.”

New Relic’s Intelligent Observability Platform supports businesses in maintaining seamless digital experiences by monitoring and managing critical systems. The company’s 2025 Observability Forecast for Asia Pacific reveals that organizations in the region are increasingly using observability tools to oversee AI projects, reduce outages, and improve overall business outcomes.

Rizkalla emphasized the strategic importance of observability: “Observability is far beyond an operational hygiene practice. It’s a strategic capability central to how companies manage risk, ensure reliability, innovate with AI, optimise costs, and comply with regulation. Now is the time for Asia Pacific organisations to embrace observability. I couldn’t be more excited to join the team and help customers realise what they can achieve with our platform.”