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Seasoned leader to strengthen execution and accelerate growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific region
CORK, Ireland, Jan. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), a global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, today announced the appointment of Susan Hughes as vice president and president, Asia Pacific. Hughes will report to CEO Joakim Weidemanis and join the company's executive committee. She succeeds Anu Rathninde, who will depart Johnson Controls at the end of February.
"As we continue to operationalize our enterprise strategy, the Asia Pacific region represents a significant growth opportunity," said Joakim Weidemanis, CEO, Johnson Controls. "With her deep expertise in the region and strong record of leading teams, operations and customer engagement, across the region, Susan is well positioned to strengthen our execution, deliver even greater value for our customers, enable our people to do so and ultimately accelerate growth.
"I want to thank Anu for his dedication and contributions to Johnson Controls over the last few years and wish him well."
Hughes brings decades of operating experience across sales, marketing, service, engineering, and manufacturing. During her 20-year career at Emerson, she held leadership roles across multiple businesses in the Asia Pacific region. She recently served as President of Asia Pacific for Emerson Automation Solutions, where she delivered sustained growth across diverse markets in the region, through commercial execution and lifecycle services.
Hughes holds an MBA from Washington University's Olin School of Business and dual bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Mandarin Chinese from Grinnell College. She is conversant in both English and Mandarin Chinese.
About Johnson Controls
At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet.
Building on a proud history of 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering.
Today, Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry.
Visit johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnsoncontrols on social platforms.
Seasoned leader to strengthen execution and accelerate growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific region
CORK, Ireland, Jan. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), a global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, today announced the appointment of Susan Hughes as vice president and president, Asia Pacific. Hughes will report to CEO Joakim Weidemanis and join the company's executive committee. She succeeds Anu Rathninde, who will depart Johnson Controls at the end of February.
"As we continue to operationalize our enterprise strategy, the Asia Pacific region represents a significant growth opportunity," said Joakim Weidemanis, CEO, Johnson Controls. "With her deep expertise in the region and strong record of leading teams, operations and customer engagement, across the region, Susan is well positioned to strengthen our execution, deliver even greater value for our customers, enable our people to do so and ultimately accelerate growth.
"I want to thank Anu for his dedication and contributions to Johnson Controls over the last few years and wish him well."
Hughes brings decades of operating experience across sales, marketing, service, engineering, and manufacturing. During her 20-year career at Emerson, she held leadership roles across multiple businesses in the Asia Pacific region. She recently served as President of Asia Pacific for Emerson Automation Solutions, where she delivered sustained growth across diverse markets in the region, through commercial execution and lifecycle services.
Hughes holds an MBA from Washington University's Olin School of Business and dual bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Mandarin Chinese from Grinnell College. She is conversant in both English and Mandarin Chinese.
About Johnson Controls
At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet.
Building on a proud history of 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering.
Today, Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry.
Visit johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnsoncontrols on social platforms.
INVESTOR CONTACT:
MEDIA CONTACT:
Mike Gates
Danielle Canzanella
Direct: 414.524.5785
Direct: 414.524.8687
Email: Michael.j.gates@jci.com
Email: Danielle.canzanella@jci.com
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Johnson Controls Appoints Susan Hughes to lead Asia Pacific Region
SHANGHAI, Jan. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For decades, visiting Shanghai meant following a familiar set of stops: the Bund at sunset, a stroll through Yuyuan Garden, perhaps a first glimpse of the skyline from Pudong. Increasingly, though, the city wants travelers to move beyond the checklist — and to describe Shanghai in their own words.
That shift is on display in a citywide tourism guide competition launched last November, which invited participants to document how they experience Shanghai, from classic sightseeing routes to more personal, idiosyncratic discoveries. In less than two months, the contest drew more than 8,900 submissions, many of them shared widely online, with related videos and posts viewed hundreds of millions of times.
Rather than focusing solely on travel agencies and industry influencers, the competition opened its doors to the public, placing curated itineraries alongside accounts shaped by everyday experiences — neighborhood walks, food discoveries, and encounters that don't always appear in traditional guidebooks. Together, they offered a portrait of a city that is at once well known and still in the process of being rediscovered.
The timing is deliberate. As the Lunar New Year approaches, Shanghai has rolled out a dense calendar of events across the city, including thousands of cultural activities and performances, accompanied by seasonal promotions from attractions, hotels, guesthouses, and travel agencies. The aim is less about drawing visitors for a single landmark than about encouraging longer stays and repeat visits, particularly during one of China's busiest travel periods.
What emerges from these efforts is a broader recalibration of how the city presents itself to travelers, both from within China and abroad. By encouraging visitors to explore beyond established routes — and to share what they find — Shanghai is betting that personal stories can carry more weight than official narratives.
In doing so, the city is aligning itself with a wider shift in global travel, where tourists increasingly seek experiences that feel specific, lived-in, and worth retelling. For Shanghai, the hope is that these stories linger well beyond the trip itself, shaping how the city is remembered — and why travelers choose to return.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
From Guidebooks to Personal Stories, Shanghai Rethinks the Visitor Experience
