Boundless Possibilities: Graeme Orsborn on Everbridge’s Continued Expansion in the Asia Pacific Region

As Everbridge’s first team member on the ground in Singapore, Graeme Orsborn already knew the huge potential of the company’s critical event management platform. But when Everbridge’s technology was able to help a woman in a domestic abuse situation, his eyes were opened to growing possibilities. Below, Graeme, now the vice president of the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, shares the traction the company has gained while opening offices in Mumbai, Singapore, and Sydney, along with why he expects Everbridge in APAC to continue a hypergrowth phase very soon.

What do you do at Everbridge?

I lead our SaaS business in the Asia Pacific, or APAC, region. Day to day, that means I’m overseeing delivery, implementations, marketing, and partnerships for a pretty large area — we started out in Singapore in 2017, and have since expanded into Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, and most recently India, Australia, and New Zealand. I was the first one here in Singapore; now we have a team of 11 people and counting.

Tell us about your background and why you joined the team.

Before I joined in 2015, I worked in account management for an information security company where I focused on government and compliance. Everbridge was interesting to me because it was growing so quickly, and because the technology was moving beyond the initial focus on mass notifications and into the IT world. I was excited about the idea of bringing those two workflows together on a single platform. I also read a lot of customer reviews and saw that Everbridge was getting great feedback — it was clear the software really worked. The mission was a big draw, as well. At a lot of companies, the value you provide is mostly about numbers. But here, our value is based on actually mitigating risks to our customers’ business and employees, and ultimately helping save lives.

“Everbridge was a rare opportunity to essentially work on a startup, but with the support of an established business. So I said, ‘Why not?’”

Tell us about your path since joining Everbridge.

I joined as head of account management in EMEA and spent a couple of years putting processes in place for that team. After we went public, our CEO asked if I was interested in launching Everbridge in APAC. It was something different — I’d never even been to Singapore — and I liked the idea of building from the ground up. My background is mostly in startups, where you get to start from zero but also have to struggle without a lot of funding or market recognition. This was a rare opportunity to essentially work on a startup, but with the support of an established business. So I said, “Why not?”

It’s been exciting for me to go from working by myself in my apartment to opening offices in Singapore Mumbai, and Sydney. It’s also been a chance to work in and adapt to a lot of different cultures and environments, which I really enjoy.

Can you share any projects that you’ve found especially rewarding?

We worked with one organization in the IT space recently and were able to reduce their mean response time from 36 minutes to 4. With that one quick implementation, we helped them meet two years’ worth of goals.

“I expect every one of our team members to own their own business unit because that will empower them to grow into leadership positions if they want.”

But I think the example I’m most proud of is when a woman who works for one of our customers was able to use Everbridge to get help during a domestic abuse situation. She wasn’t in a position to call the police, but she could use the SOS feature, which is basically a panic button. It started sending video and audio of the situation, and then the organization was able to liaise with the police. We hadn’t sold the product with that use case in mind, but it opened my eyes to the potential power of the platform. Experiences like that remind you we’re really helping keep people safe, not just selling technology.

What kinds of challenges does the APAC team face?

Collaboration across functions and time zones can be a challenge, especially in terms of mentorship and professional development. We’ve put detailed onboarding structures in place to help with that — there are programs designed for each specialty that get people up to speed as quickly as possible. We’ve also built up support mechanisms that draw on our peers outside of APAC, so team members can reach out to an experienced colleague who’s in a similar role in the U.S. or Europe.

For me personally, the challenge is to stay focused, because it’s such a large region. I try to prioritize the things that will help us continue to scale, but like everyone here, I still wear a lot of hats. Because we’re in remote offices, we have to be agile and recognize that we won’t always have everything at our fingertips. But with that added responsibility comes a lot of opportunity. I expect every one of our team members to own their own business unit because that will empower them to grow into leadership positions if they want.

What are you excited about as you look to the future in APAC?

I think we’ve really put the structure in place this year to continue expanding. We just launched a new 10-person technical support team, for example, which will be a great resource for everyone in APAC. Just like with any expansion, we had to start simple and prove the growth potential. As we’ve shown customers how Everbridge can help them, we’ve found this to be an unparalleled market, and we’re really starting to see traction. Now that we’re more established, I think we’re going to enter a hypergrowth phase very, very soon. That’s exciting for everyone here, and everyone who joins us going forward.

Interested in working with Graeme and the rest of #TeamEverbridge? Check out open positions here.