Mr. Joji Tokunaga

Joji Tokunaga is an experienced global business leader, board advisor and former senior executive with more than 35 years of experience at Ricoh. He has led major businesses across North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, including serving as President and CEO of Ricoh North America and President and CEO of Ricoh Asia Pacific & Latin America. His leadership experience spans multi-billion-dollar operations, with responsibility for businesses employing up to 20,000 people across 23 countries. Having lived and worked in the United States for more than 25 years, he brings extensive cross-cultural experience and an ability to bridge Western, Japanese and ASEAN business perspectives. 

As President and CEO of Ricoh North America from 2018 to 2021, Tokunaga led Ricoh’s largest regional operation, a USD3.5 billion business with approximately 20,000 employees serving 1.4 million customers. During his tenure, he turned around a decade of negative double-digit results, improving operating profit by approximately 400% and achieving record profitability. He also repositioned the organisation from a traditional hardware distribution business into a digital services provider. His transformational leadership earned him recognition as one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs. 

He subsequently served as President and CEO of Ricoh Asia Pacific & Latin America from 2021 to 2023, overseeing more than USD1.7 billion in revenue and approximately 10,000 employees across 23 operating companies on three continents. In this role, he led the region’s transition from a legacy hardware distribution model towards a services-led digital solutions business while strengthening governance, cross-border risk management and capital discipline. Earlier in his Ricoh career, Tokunaga held senior positions in Tokyo and the Americas, where his responsibilities included global strategy, digital transformation, mergers and acquisitions, post-merger integration and performance management. 

Currently based in Kuala Lumpur, Tokunaga is Founder and Principal of CEOESSENTIAL Sdn Bhd, providing board and CEO coaching, business model reviews and operational transformation support to Malaysian companies. He also serves as Corporate Strategic Advisor to Swift Energy Technology Berhad and as a board-level advisor to KHIND Holdings Berhad, while advising AI and technology companies across Asia and North America. His areas of expertise include corporate governance, strategy and M&A, risk management, ESG and sustainability, capital allocation, leadership development, digital transformation and AI adoption. 

Tokunaga holds a Bachelor of Arts in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Delaware and completed an Executive Master Program at the Institute of Strategic Leadership in Tokyo. He is fluent in English and a native Japanese speaker.