Consumer-centric innovation

The Asia–Pacific region is often described as one big growth market. But anyone who’s ever worked there knows it’s far more complex. The region behaves like a dozen markets moving at different speeds and shaped by different domestic realities. And for Udai Kunzru, President of SharkNinja APAC, that tension between scale and specificity is his passion.

“I’ve spent 34 years of my career in the Asia–Pacific and never for a moment felt bored,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “This region is a powerful innovation engine and a catalyst for the next wave of categories and technologies we’ll bring to market.”

Beyond the numbers

In those three-plus decades of his tenure, Kunzru has witnessed the region transform economically, digitally and demographically, evolving into one of the most strategically important arenas for global consumer brands.

Excluding China, the Asia–Pacific region today represents around US$18 trillion in GDP. But Kunzru is quick to think beyond the headline number.

“Across the Asia–Pacific, we see consumers embracing innovation at a pace that is often faster than the rest of the world, and that shapes how we think about our future pipeline,” he explains.

“While I can’t share specifics, what I can say is that our focus is on developing solutions that reflect the realities of modern living in this region – smaller living spaces, hotter climates, increasingly hybrid lifestyles and a strong appetite for convenience and multifunctionality.”

SharkNinja’s portfolio spans cleaning, kitchen appliances, home environment and emerging beauty categories, and the addressable market across the region already sits at roughly US$14 billion, Kunzru says. But the opportunity, while substantial, is far from straightforward.

Home sizes, floor types, cooking habits, beauty routines, retail structures and regulatory environments vary widely across these markets.

“What resonates in Sydney may not land the same way in Seoul, Tokyo or Jakarta,” Kunzru points out.

“Big global ideas and innovations definitely work across the Asia–Pacific, but they often require local tailoring. And our teams are working on technologies that make everyday tasks simpler, faster and more intuitive, but also more enjoyable.

“In short, the Asia–Pacific rewards brands that can balance global excellence with hyper-local execution.”

Innovation versus observation

SharkNinja’s incredible growth across the region hasn’t been accidental.

“Our growth in the Asia–Pacific is anchored on three strategic pillars,” Kunzru reveals. “The first is relentless innovation based on solving customer pain points.”

The company launches multiple new products each year, but he stresses that pace alone isn’t the differentiator. What matters is relevance.

“These products are based on deep consumer study – how people live, cook, clean and socialize,” he explains.

Surprisingly, this research often begins not with surveys, but by watching how people adapt to limitations they’ve learned to live with and accept.

“We never see any category as finished,” he adds. “Even in products that have existed for a century, there are always new ways to make everyday life easier, safer or more delightful.”

However, innovation alone doesn’t sustain growth at scale. That’s why SharkNinja’s second strategic pillar is diversification.

“Operating across kitchen, cleaning, home environment and emerging beauty gives us resilience and scale,” he says.

“It also lets us enter new categories quickly while building interconnected consumer ecosystems.”

While some innovations like the lightweight vacuums were born from distinct regional needs, Kunzru says others tap into universal desires that resonate globally. Ninja Creami and Ninja Slushi, for example, introduced an innovative, at-home frozen dessert category.

“It’s a completely new category in Asian markets and has been successful for us across the region,” he explains, adding that what unites these products is not just novelty – it’s utility, which is core to the philosophy of SharkNinja’s broader mission to enhance the quality of everyday living.

Storytelling that drives behavior

No matter how great the product might be – and SharkNinja is known for some of the best – they don’t sell themselves. They’re discovered, validated and adopted through stories, increasingly told by creators rather than brands themselves. This reality underpins SharkNinja’s third growth pillar: world-class storytelling.

“The Asia–Pacific is a region where social commerce, creators and digital word-of-mouth drive demand at speed,” Kunzru explains, adding that a significant percentage of product discovery is via social platforms.

“Consumers want to see products in action, hear honest perspectives and feel part of a community that shares their interests,” he says.

By equipping creators with meaningful stories and hands-on experiences, the brand turns customers into advocates and advocates into communities.

“What’s powerful in the Asia–Pacific is that storytelling doesn’t just drive awareness – it drives behavior,” he says.

“A strong narrative supported by authentic voices can move a market faster here than anywhere else. For us, that combination of innovation plus community is what transforms a great product into a cultural moment.”

Ecommerce, he explains, has become one of SharkNinja’s most effective growth engines, but the company’s success online is rooted in discipline rather than experimentation.

“By treating each platform as a standalone business – with its own profit and loss, content engine and creator ecosystem – we’ve rapidly become one of the top brands on leading ecommerce platforms across the region,” Kunzru notes.

From Lazada and Shopee to Amazon, Rakuten, Naver and Coupang, each platform is approached with a tailored strategy that reflects local consumer behavior. Digital channels allow SharkNinja to move quickly and build advocacy in real time while scaling new ideas efficiently.

At the same time, Kunzru is under no illusion that digital is a substitute for physical retail.

“The markets where we win fastest are those where online and offline reinforce each other,” he explains. “We are channel agnostic – we like to be present wherever our shopper likes to shop.”

Extraordinary leadership

Indeed, few regions test leadership like the Asia–Pacific. Its diversity demands leaders who can provide direction without imposing uniformity. For Kunzru, that balance begins with vision.

“Leadership in the Asia–Pacific starts with creating a breakthrough vision – giving teams something meaningful to build toward, not just targets to deliver,” he says.

“In a region as diverse as ours, people need to understand the ‘why’, feel inspired by the journey and see the role they play in shaping the future of business.”

At SharkNinja APAC, that vision is reinforced by a culture described internally as ‘outrageously extraordinary’. Leaders are encouraged to challenge the status quo, pursue ambitious goals and venture into the unknown.

“This requires our people to set big goals and venture into unknown territories,” Kunzru says, while admitting that he is equally committed to merit-based leadership.

“Whoever knows the most should lead – not necessarily the one who has the highest rank.”

Looking ahead, Kunzru’s ambition is straightforward and staying true to that vision is already delivering huge returns.

“My vision is consistent with the company’s purpose – to improve people’s lives every day, in every home in the Asia–Pacific,” he says. “It has allowed us to grow our business five times in the last three years.”

But for Kunzru, the ultimate measure of leadership has nothing to do with the bottom line.

“If people look back and still remember what we were able to create and leave behind – that is an amazing accomplishment,” he says with a smile.