# Richard Spence

![Richard Spence](/resources/cognition/portraits/richard-spence.webp)

VP & GM APAC @ Cognition (Devin)  
Cognition  
Singapore

## At Cognition

- Role: VP & GM APAC (Sales/GTM)
- Joined: Feb 2026
- How they joined: Directly
- Before Cognition: VP, Growth International (EMEA & APJ), UiPath
- Overlapped before Cognition with other Cognition people at: Google (https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/worked-together)

## Identity
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6
- Domain: cognition.ai

## Notes
- Cognition's official blog names him VP and GM, APAC, responsible for regional strategy, customer engagement and market expansion across Southeast Asia, Australia, India and South Korea; Japan is run separately by Takumi Masai. (https://cognition.com/blog/singapore)
- Led the Singapore APAC HQ launch on 2026-04-29 (media event, customer sessions, evening launch) with Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How attending and shared the stage with Michael Chung of OCBC. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognition-fast-tracks-asia-pacific-expansion-activity-7455561013371752448-prvp)
- Joined Cognition (maker of Devin and Windsurf) in Feb 2026 as founding VP & GM, APAC, based in Singapore; announced it publicly on LinkedIn on 2026-03-06. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognitionai-devin-apac-activity-7435486197575200768-Wy_2)
- His announcement names Brooke Arthur (Managing Director, International) as his closest partner and thanks Scott Wu, Russell Kaplan, Emily Cohen, Nicholas Erdenberger and Asmar Ghafoor. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognitionai-devin-apac-activity-7435486197575200768-Wy_2)
- Immediately before Cognition: UiPath for about 4.5 years (Sep 2021 - Mar 2026): RVP Growth Sales APJ, then VP Growth Sales APJ (Nov 2023), then VP Growth International EMEA & APJ (Oct 2024). (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Two weeks after joining he wrote the team had 'navigated the past couple of weeks across regions' and he was 'Now fully focused on APAC' across Singapore, Japan, Australia and Korea. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognitionai-activity-7440671496940941312-TalQ)
- Stated APAC mission at launch: 'Scale with Precision' starting with Singapore and Australia, customer impact on engineering bottlenecks, and building a high-performance GTM culture. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognitionai-devin-apac-activity-7435486197575200768-Wy_2)
- Cognition acquired Windsurf (the agentic IDE) under a definitive agreement announced 2025-07-14, including IP, product, trademark/brand, $82M ARR and 350+ enterprise customers. This predates his Feb 2026 start. (https://cognition.com/blog/windsurf)
- UiPath on Tour London 2025 listed him as speaker with title 'VP, Test Cloud, International'. (https://www.uipath.com/events/on-tour/london/speakers)
- Google (2017-2021): FSI & Fintech, Google Cloud, Singapore, then Regional Sales Leader ASEAN (Mar 2018 - Sep 2021). (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Avaya (2006-2017): Global Account Manager (Mars; EMEA for PwC, GE, Apple), Client Director FSI in London, APAC Global Account Director, Global Client Executive for Standard Chartered, then Managing Director ASEAN with $90m+ revenue and P&L ownership. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Ties Devin to Singapore policy moments (May Day Rally, MOM AI adoption report, PM Lawrence Wong's National Day Rally 2026), a government-affairs-flavoured selling style suited to the region's public sector and banks. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_aiforgood-digitaleconomy-smartnationsg-activity-7467340249724137472-sjmM)
- Quoted by Frontier Enterprise: 'Singapore stands out as one of the most advanced markets globally for AI adoption, with strong national leadership and a highly engaged developer and user base'. (https://www.frontier-enterprise.com/cognition-makes-singapore-as-apac-hub-amid-expansion/)
- Tech in Asia reported he would lead APAC operations from Singapore covering Southeast Asia, Australia, India and South Korea. (https://www.techinasia.com/news/ai-coding-startup-cognition-picks-singapore-apac-hq)
- Public headline says "VP & GM APAC @ Cognition (Devin)". (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Shared SWE-check / Applied Compute bug-detection launch ('Detect bugs faster...') and reposted the Devin Oncall launch (Oct 2026); he amplifies product launches but did not build them himself. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_swe-activity-7450147913193918464-YMUl)
- A Google Cloud colleague, Callum Eade, posted that Richard Spence joined as lead for Advanced Cloud Solution selling for ASEAN (~2021), identifying a specific Google Cloud APAC GTM team. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/callum-eade-24b2631b_teamwork-leadership-activity-6839520535467163648-_lX2)
- Avaya awards: Presidents Club 2007 and 2014, UK Account Director of the Year 2011, EMEA Account Director of the Year 2012. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Founding VP & GM, APAC at Cognition AI.

I build high-performing teams, earn long-term customer trust, and turn frontier tech into outcomes that matter for customers.

 Now focused on what's next: Bringing Devin — the autonomous AI software engineer — to enterprises across the region, helping them deploy Devin and rethink how software gets built; this comes from the profile summary and preserves the person's own positioning. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Has lived in Singapore for 14 years (per his Oct 2026 post). (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_having-lived-in-singapore-for-14-years-ive-activity-7512670542659796992-3A7O)
- Early career: Hewlett-Packard sales developer for global corporate accounts (2002-2003, industrial placement) and business development manager at Thus (2004-2006); B.A. Business Studies, De Montfort University (2000-2004). (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Previous roles include VP, Growth International (EMEA & APJ) at UiPath; VP, Growth Sales, APJ at UiPath; Regional Vice President, Growth Sales, APJ at UiPath; Regional Sales Leader, ASEAN at Google; FSI & Fintech, Google Cloud at Google; Managing Director, ASEAN at Avaya; Global Client Executive - Standard Chartered at Avaya; APAC Global Account Director at Avaya. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Education history includes Bachelor’s Degree, Business Studies, De Montfort University. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)
- Location is Singapore. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6)

## Experience
- VP & GM APAC at Cognition - Singapore (Feb 2026 - Present)
- VP, Growth International (EMEA & APJ) at UiPath - Singapore (Oct 2024 - Mar 2026)
- VP, Growth Sales, APJ at UiPath - Singapore (Nov 2023 - Oct 2024)
- Regional Vice President, Growth Sales, APJ at UiPath - Singapore (Sep 2021 - Nov 2023)
- Regional Sales Leader, ASEAN at Google - Singapore (Mar 2018 - Sep 2021)
- FSI & Fintech, Google Cloud at Google - Singapore (Sep 2017 - May 2018)
- Managing Director, ASEAN at Avaya - Singapore (Mar 2015 - Sep 2017): Sales, business leadership and strategic growth in the South East Asia region with a focused drive on customer and partner satisfaction. Overall P&L accountability. 
 
Key Responsibilities:
●	$90m+ revenue
●	P&L ownership
●	Manage a team of 67 direct and indirect reports 
●	Functional responsibility for sales, pre-sales, operations,  service management, professional services
- Global Client Executive - Standard Chartered at Avaya - Singapore (Dec 2013 - May 2015): Global responsibility for Avaya's largest FSI client in Asia Pacific.
2014 - Presidents Club Winner
- APAC Global Account Director at Avaya - Singapore (Jan 2013 - Nov 2013): Building the APAC Global Account program
- Client Director, FSI at Avaya - London (Jan 2011 - Dec 2012): Responsibility for EMEA's largest FSI client.
2011 - UK Account Director of the year.
2012 - EMEA Account Director of the year.
- Global Account Manager at Avaya - London, United Kingdom (Jul 2006 - Jul 2011): Global responsibility for Mars Corporation. 
EMEA responsibility for PwC, GE, Apple. 
Presidents Club Winner 2007
- Business Development Manager at Thus (Jan 2004 - Jan 2006)
- Sales Developer Global Corporate Accounts at Hewlett-Packard at Hewlett Packard - Bracknell (Jun 2002 - Sep 2003): > Analysed business activity and profiled numerous Global Accounts
> Supported a team of 8 Global Sales Solutions Managers 
> Developed a new business account from $0 to $1.25m whilst on industrial placement.

## Education
- De Montfort University - Bachelor’s Degree, Business Studies - (Jan 2000 - Jan 2004): BA Hons Business Studies

## Sources
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6
- https://cognition.com/blog/singapore
- https://cognition.com/blog/windsurf
- https://www.uipath.com/events/on-tour/london/speakers
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognitionai-devin-apac-activity-7435486197575200768-Wy_2
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_swe-activity-7450147913193918464-YMUl
- https://alphastar.academy/our-story/
- https://www.frontier-enterprise.com/cognition-makes-singapore-as-apac-hub-amid-expansion/
- https://www.techinasia.com/news/ai-coding-startup-cognition-picks-singapore-apac-hq
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-spence-587b2b6?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAAE8E3cBCN6IUv8Va-tMLEslCGXc_DKapdQ
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/callum-eade-24b2631b_teamwork-leadership-activity-6839520535467163648-_lX2
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognitionai-activity-7440671496940941312-TalQ
- https://www.edb.gov.sg/news-and-insights/cognition-expands-to-asia-with-singapore-regional-headquarters
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_cognition-fast-tracks-asia-pacific-expansion-activity-7455561013371752448-prvp
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_having-lived-in-singapore-for-14-years-ive-activity-7512670542659796992-3A7O
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_ndr2026-devin-cognition-activity-7498063892154052608-Ii90
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-spence-587b2b6_aiforgood-digitaleconomy-smartnationsg-activity-7467340249724137472-sjmM


Researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-04. Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people/richard-spence · Everyone at Cognition: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people