As the Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, for Verizon – a global technology provider− Robert Le Busque leads specialist teams to help governments and businesses in the Asia Pacific region deliver the promise of a digital and connected future.
Robert Le Busque is the Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific for Verizon Business Group, a global technology provider that serves the communication and cyber security needs of 99% of Fortune 500 companies. Robert and his team help enterprise and government clients in the Asia Pacific region deliver the promise of a digital and connected future.
In the Asia Pacific region, Verizon has a presence in 29 cities in 11 countries where they serve about 3000 customers from a diverse range of industries including manufacturing, finance and insurance, utilities, retail, professional services, technology services and the public sector.
Recognizing that connectivity drives business performance, Verizon offers a suite of managed network and cybersecurity services that help their enterprises and Governments to optimize their business operations, mitigate business risks and capitalize on data.
Verizon’s global network includes long-haul, metro and submarine assets that carry IP, data, and voice traffic across more than 1 million route miles enabling over 330,000 + Private IP connections. In addition, Verizon monitors over 61 billion security events globally every year through their Asia Pacific Advanced Security Operations Centre (SOC). Their cyber investigative response team boasts 400-plus full-time team members across the globe and is one of the largest non-military IT investigation companies in the world. Last year, it conducted 500-plus IT investigations and was retained to investigate nine of the 11 largest data breaches on record.
Managing High Performance Teams
Le Busque is known for his broad strategic impact, deep domain expertise, complex problem-solving abilities and experience in managing diverse, high performance teams, which numbers around 1000 employees in the Asia Pacific region. As Regional Vice President, he oversees the sales, strategy, and operations of the dynamic and diverse region covering markets including Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
Achievements
One of the achievements Le Busque is especially proud of is how the business in Asia has grown. “Our business in the Asia-Pacific region has emerged the fastest growing in Verizon outpacing the EMEA and US regions,” he says. “In the same vein, our security business is among the fastest-growing businesses in Verizon.”
Another achievement he calls “positive”, was navigating the pandemic. As terrible as it was, it turned out that one of their greatest challenges has also been their greatest success. “Continuing to run a business which provides critical services to businesses all across the region while your employees are grappling with personal challenges was both daunting and rewarding at the same time,” he recalls. Because it brought the rapid digitisation of businesses and governments, “Not only did we emerge from a difficult time stronger together but we also saw year-over-growth in our business.”
Learning and Development Programs
While Le Busque sees himself as a focused and grounded leader, he is also people-oriented in that he takes care of his employees. In the Asia-Pacific region, all full and part time employees are given extensive on-the-job training opportunities, certification courses, technical upskilling, tuition reimbursement programs and career development support to enable their employees to maximize their potential and thrive professionally.
A Background in Classical Music
Le Busque has an interesting educational background. He studied classical music and composition at university, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and says that his music education has been a tool for his success in the technology sector.
He attests that studying as a musician has taught him many things. For example: The power of habit, practice and discipline, the ability to absorb, channel and perform under immense pressure; and that preparation is the key to excellence.
“As a musician you never ‘rise to the occasion’,” he says, “you default to the level of your preparation, every time, and you often only get one chance to perform; you have to nail it.”
Applying these attributes to his day-to-day tasks has enabled him to be excellent at routine while always maintaining composure and having trust in his own abilities to “nail it” no matter how high the pressure or complex the problem.
