Former Oath platforms head Alex Khan returns to the industry as Smaato CEO Asia Pacific. Real-time ad platform Smaato has made two senior hires into its APAC business, chiefly naming former Oath APAC MD of platforms Alex Khan to lead the region.Khan, who will be APAC managing director at Smaato, will also be joined by Toby Williams, who will be senior director demand business development APAC. Williams also worked at Oath and was head of exchange demand, APAC.

According to the announcement, the pair has been hired to drive the expansion of the business across the Asia Pacific region, particularly focusing on its expertise in in-app advertising. Khan, an industry veteran, has extensive experience in mobile and Asia Pacific and has penned several articles for The Drum about topics, such as mobile, video and programmatic in the region.
“I’m excited to lead the next phase in Smaato’s regional expansion,” said Alex Khan, managing director APAC at Smaato. “Smaato’s focus on in-app advertising is particularly well suited to the APAC market, which is experiencing explosive growth in demand from global brands.”

Smaato is a popular name in the industry especially in the region as it was sold to Beijing-based Spearhead Marketing Communications Group in 2016. It also has a data center in China.

Glenn Fishback, Chief Revenue Officer at Smaato said “We are honored that we were able to attract two digital marketing leaders to join and help us further expand into the APAC region. "Over the last eight years, Smaato has created a great foundation in APAC. We are now uniquely positioned to build upon the successes with these key hires." He added. Both Khan and Williams will be based in Singapore.