Alexis Dang took a pay cut of almost 40% to leave banking for technology. She had not failed in her first career. She had reached the destination she had spent eight years working towards, and realised it was not the future she wanted.
That decision captures something important about careers in APAC adtech. In a region shaped by different cultures, regulations, levels of digital maturity and ways of doing business, a perfectly linear career is not always the best preparation. The ability to learn, adapt and transfer judgment from one environment to another can be a competitive advantage.
In the latest episode of Voices of Adtech, Alejandra Herrera sits down with Alexis Dang and Dana Soap, both members of Women at Teads in APAC. They arrived in adtech through very different routes, but their stories point to the same lesson: changing direction does not mean starting again.
When progress no longer feels like progress
Private banking had long appeared to be Alexis’s final destination. When she reached it, however, the work no longer gave her the sense of purpose or daily engagement she needed.
Leaving was difficult precisely because she had succeeded. She had built expertise, relationships and financial security. Moving into technology meant giving up familiarity as well as income. But staying had a cost too.
Her decision came down to two questions: Do I find value in the work I do every day? Can I see myself doing this in ten years?
When the answer to both became no, she moved.
Career mobility is becoming a serious consideration across the region. In PwC’s survey of 19,500 workers in Asia-Pacific, 31% said they were likely to change employers within the following year. Alexis’s experience adds an important nuance: sometimes the case for change becomes clearest after conventional success, not failure. (PwC Asia Pacific Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey)
Starting again does not mean starting from zero
Alexis’s move into Singapore’s start-up ecosystem was not smooth. She encountered funding problems, a business that could not find product-market fit in Southeast Asia and another that struggled to pay salaries. Through that experience she learned how businesses behave under pressure and how funding, market conditions and product decisions affect employees. She also learned that an interesting role can sit inside a vulnerable business.
A connection eventually led her to business development in adtech. She arrived without knowing what an SSP, DSP or ad exchange was. What she did know was how to listen to clients, build trust and identify commercial opportunities. Those skills allowed her to contribute while learning the technical language of the industry. That is the central lesson of a non-linear career: changing industries may reset your context, but it does not erase your capability.
Dana’s view from the hiring side
Dana understands that transition from both sides of the interview table. Before becoming a talent acquisition leader at Teads, she spent ten years as a flight attendant. She had to translate strengths developed in one professional environment into a very different one.
Today, after reviewing thousands of applications and interviewing candidates at every level, she sees how career changes are presented, and how hiring teams interpret them.
This matters because a non-linear path can be mistaken for a lack of focus. Women may be particularly exposed to that judgment when their careers include international moves, caregiving, time outside the workforce or a change of industry.
The better hiring question is not, “Why didn’t this person stay on one track?” It is, “What did each move teach them, and how will that experience help them here?” Seen through that lens, a career change can demonstrate courage, self-awareness, resilience and the ability to learn quickly. Those are not gaps to explain away. They are capabilities to examine.
Why adaptability matters in APAC
APAC is not one market. Client priorities, talent needs and commercial conditions vary widely across countries. Knowledge gained in one place cannot always be transferred directly to another.
The region is also growing quickly. Dentsu forecasts APAC advertising spend to increase by 5.9% in 2026, faster than its forecasts for the Americas and EMEA. Growth creates opportunity, but it also increases the need for people who can recognise what must be adapted and what must be learned again. (Dentsu Global Ad Spend Forecasts 2026)
Alexis’s value comes not only from what she knows, but from how quickly she can build knowledge and apply it in a new market or business context. Her banking experience strengthened her commercial judgment. Start-ups taught her to assess uncertainty. Adtech gave her a new technical environment in which to use both.
Employers need to support that kind of development through real work, not training alone. At Teads, team members identify the capabilities they need, managers turn those priorities into opportunities through coaching and feedback, and the company provides mentoring, workshops and learning resources. Programmes such as Teads PowerUp and TeadsMind are most useful when they help people practise new skills in their day-to-day roles.
Making room for honest career stories
Non-linear careers rarely look tidy while they are happening. They can involve doubt, financial trade-offs, experiments that do not work and organisational changes that are not chosen. When people can speak honestly about reinvention and uncertainty, teams gain a broader understanding of how capability is built.
That can lead to better hiring decisions, stronger internal mobility and more thoughtful leadership.
A better measure of progress
Alexis and Dana did not follow identical paths. Neither followed a simple one.
Their stories suggest that career progress should not be measured only through titles, salary or time spent in one industry. A stronger measure is whether each move increases your ability to learn, contribute and make better decisions.
In a region as varied and fast-moving as APAC, that is not a secondary skill. It is a competitive advantage.