PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Delaporte resigns, Veteran Pallia steps in as Wipro CEO and MD

Wipro veteran, Srinivas Pallia succeeds Thierry Delaporte, as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wipro for five years. He steps in as Delaporte resigned from the post as per regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on 6 April, 2024. Delaporte’s tenure with the tech major ends on 31 May, 2024. Pallia has been a Wipro stalwart for 30 years and was the CEO of its Americas 1 region. Pallia has served Wipro in various roles, most notably as the president of Wipro’s consumer business unit before his stint as the Americas CEO. Thierry was a rare non-Indian to lead a homegrown IT firm. With Pallia’s elevation, the company has shifted from its approach of hiring an outsider for the top job in favour of an internal candidate for the CEO’s position. Delaporte, in his resignation letter, said that he had witnessed significant transformations within the company that drove financial growth, which positively impacted the tech company’s associates, clients, and shareholders. Wipro, India's fourth largest outsourcing company, announced that Delaporte will receive a severance payout of `92.1 crore (estimated $11 million), after his ahead-of-schedule exit, which makes him the highest-paid CEO in India for FY23. Delaporte joined Wipro as the CEO and MD on 6 July, 2020, and was the COO of Capgemini Group and a member of its Group Executive Board before joining Wipro. Delaporte has a Bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from SciencesPo, Paris, and a Master of Law from the Sorbonne University.

Dentsu India elevates Devanathan

Narayan Devanathan

Narayan Devanathan has rejoined Dentsu India as President and Group Chief Strategic Officer (CSO), in South Asia. In his new role, he will be reporting to Harsha Razdan, CEO of South Asia, Dentsu. A former company veteran, Devanathan was the Chief Client Officer, having worked with Dentsu for 11 years, before he stepped down in 2022. He returned for a second stint in June 2023, as Group Chief Strategic Advisor, establishing a Central Strategy team for the South Asian Market. In his new role, Devanathan will be responsible for executing the network's strategy and delivering it as per industry-defining client solutions. His position intersects marketing, technology, and consulting. He is expected to bring together planning teams across various critical practices including creative, media, and customer experience (CX). He will also establish and run the company’s business group transformation, innovations, sustainability consulting, startup growth, partnerships, expert alliances, and knowledge verticals. Devanathan will work with clients and internal talent to steer Dentsu’s transformation into a Business-to-Business-to-Society (B2B2S). He brings 30 years of experience and was the Chief Strategy & Communications Officer, with the National Foundation for India, before rejoining Dentsu. He kickstarted his career as a Copywriter with R K Swamy BBDO in 1994. He helms the two specialist units of Dentsu Mama Lab (connecting brands with mothers) and Citizen Dentsu (connecting brands with a social purpose). He has an M.A. degree in Strategic Communications, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.S. in Mass Communications from Iowa State University.

Veteran Manian quits Kotak Mahindra Bank

KVS Manian

KVS Manian, Joint Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has resigned from his position, effective 30 April, 2024. The Kotak veteran has been associated with the private sector lender for nearly 30 years. He was promoted in a management restructuring in January 2024. During his tenure, Manian steered various businesses including wholesale and private banking, including consumer, and commercial verticals. He was speculated to have replaced Uday Kotak as the CEO and MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank, but market experts in the know say that he might be joining a smaller rival bank. In Manian’s absence, Shanti Ekambaram will oversee the lender’s investment banking institutional equities, and, asset reconstruction businesses, whereas Ashok Vaswani, MD and CEO, will steer the wholesale, commercial, and private bank report directly to him. Manian kick-started his career with Kotak Mahindra in 1994, as Group Head – Consumer Banking. He is a BTech (Electrical Engineering) from the Banaras Hindu University and is an alumnus of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS).

inDrive ropes in Swiggy’s Mazumder

Pratip Mazumder

Pratip Mazumder takes over as Country Manager, inDrive, an urban mobility services platform, for its India operations. He will lead the company’s business verticals and oversee local government and public relations, partnerships, and inVision initiatives. He is expected to ensure rider and driver safety and improve it nationwide. Mazumder was General Manager for Strategic Partnerships in India for Swiggy, before joining inDrive. He has also had collaborations with Aegon Life India, Uber, and Practo. He headed business development and partnership at Aegon Life and brings a decade of leadership experience gained across his roles in the internet and consumer tech industry. His tech leadership enabled him to launch numerous product lines and sectors across cities and marketplaces, bringing go-to-market strategy knowledge. His market insights and ability to seamlessly connect the company’s central and regional teams will prove valuable to inDrive. His leadership will be instrumental in cultivating their organisational culture and Mazumder’s role would be critical in driving the company’s growth in India. He is an alumnus of the T.A.Pai Management Institute, with a Bachelor of Science (Economics) from the University of Calcutta. The inDrive claims is operational in 749 cities across 46 countries and aims to achieve a one billion user base by 2030.

Uniyal promoted as Regional Head AMEA, Bacardi India

Sameeksha Uniyal

Sameeksha Uniyal, takes the reins as Bacardi India Regional Head – a brand for AMEA (Asia, Middle East & Africa), and has been promoted from her previous role as the brand’s Marketing Controller. With Sameeksha’s elevation, Ashish Jha will lead the company’s Bacardi rum portfolio in India, as he gets promoted as Senior Brand Manager for Bacardi rum and Breezer. Sameeksha brings close to 16 years of experience working across diverse sectors and with multiple agencies as Manager of Sales with Sony Entertainment Television, Associate Business Director with Maxus, and heading strategic media planning for Pernod Richard, HT Media, and Policybazaar. com. She kickstarted her career as a Junior Consultant, at Big River Radio (India) Pvt Ltd. She was also Account Director (Viacom Brand Solutions) with Viacom 18 Media Private Limited. She is an alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College and Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad.

Veteran Sanjay Mashruwala quits Reliance Jio

Sanjay Mashruwala

Sanjay Mashruwala, one of the two managing directors at Reliance Jio has tabled his resignation, effective 9 June, 2024. He served as MD since 2013 and has been a prominent executive with the Reliance group since the beginning, under founder Dhirubhai Ambani’s regime. The 76-year-old Reliance group veteran will no longer be the Director of the telecom company under Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). In 2013, Mashruwala who has been associated with the Reliance group, but hardly known within the telecom circles, became the Managing Director of RIL’s fourth-generation (4G) mobility venture Reliance Jio. In his illustrious career with the group, Mashruwala played an important role in RIL’s petrochemical business. He also helped build a nationwide fiber optic network in record time a decade ago when the unified group had launched its mobile services. He is a functional director with several companies and has been a director of Reliance Electrolyser Manufacturing Limited, Reliance Green Hydrogen and Green Chemicals Limited, Reliance New Solar Energy Limited, Becrel Engineering Private Limited, and Jio Haptik Technologies. He has been associated as a Director with Summit Digitel Infrastructure Limited, Reliance Jio Media Limited, and Tiruttani Infralog Private Limited.

Schneider ropes in former Daimler CEO as VP, Global Supply Chain

Anshum Jain

Anshum Jain takes charge as Vice President of the Global Supply Chain for Schneider Electric in India. Schneider is a prominent player in upgrading and managing energy automation. Jain is expected to enhance the company’s global supply chain division and develop supply chain capabilities in India. He is also expected to steer a supply chain council that would establish a supply chain ecosystem, fulfilling the company’s growth in the domestic and international markets. He brings 27 years of domestic and international experience and has been managing aspects of the supply chain, manufacturing, and operations. He is reputed for navigating complex global operations, international markets, and diverse business environments. Before joining Schneider Electric, he was Chief Operating Officer at Daimler India Commercial Vehicles and was responsible for learning and implementing transformational initiatives to grow the business. In previous stints, Jain held prominent positions with Bosch (India), Cummins (US), MTU Detroit Diesel (US), and Terex (India). He also served as the COO at John Deere (India) for seven years. He is an alumnus of NIT Nagpur, where he studied mechanical engineering. He has a Master’s in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a Master’s in Business Administration from Wayne State University.

Hemant Bakshi quits Ola Cabs

Hemant Bakshi

Hemant Bakshi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ola Cabs, has resigned from ANI Technologies, the parent company of the ride-hailing service. With Bakshi’s departure, Bhavish Aggarwal, the company’s founder will steer operations until they appoint a new executive. Bakshi is said to have stepped down as he will be pursuing opportunities outside the company. The departure comes within four months of Bakshi joining Ola and corresponds with Ola’s restructuring exercise drive, ahead of its proposed initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to impact at least 10 per cent of its 1800-strong workforce. The company hopes to file a draft IPO paper in the coming three months. Bakshi joined Ola in September 2023 and was appointed CEO in January 2024. He led Ola’s mobility business and focussed on key business verticals including financial services, logistics, and e-commerce. Bakshi, a Unilever stalwart for over 15 years was Global Head and Executive Vice President of Unilever Marketplace, in his last position with the FMCG major. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) and the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad).

Lubrizol appoints Bhavana Bindra as MD, IMEA

Bhavana Bindra

Bhavana Bindra takes charge as Lubrizol Corporation’s Managing Director for India, Middle East & Africa (IMEA). It is a newly established position assigned to Bhavana and is aimed at boosting the company’s growth objectives in the IMEA region. She will be responsible for Lubrizol’s IMEA team in delivering regional growth for the company and its customers, on a local-for-local approach, and work closely with the company’s leadership and across all stakeholders. She is expected to oversee a new Lubrizol global capability center in Pune, India, which will serve as a regional hub, enhancing the company’s regional growth. Bhavana’s appointment is part of Lubrizol’s commitment to delivering to the IMEA region, which pledges a $150 million investment in India to fuel growth initiatives, including the construction of a state-of-the-art CPVC resin plant in Vilayat, India, expected to become the world’s largest CPVC resin plant when completed in 2025. Bhavana brings 20+ years of industry experience having worked extensively with companies including REHAU SOA and Cummins India and has commendable leadership and industrial experience. She is skilled in Account Management, Sales, Product Planning, Business Development, P&L Management, Large Team Building, Leadership Development & Effective Governance using Board Skills, and defines herself as a writer, speaker, and diversity sponsor. She is an alumnus of Shree Ram College of Commerce and the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore).

BP’s Dube replaces Sashi Mukundan as HOC and SVP

Kartikeya Dube

Kartikeya Dube has replaced long-serving Sashi Mukundan as BP’s new Head of Country (HoC) and Senior Vice President (gas and low carbon), effective 1 July, 2024. Mukundan is expected to ensure a seamless handover until his retirement on September 30, as he retires after 42 years, including 15 years of leadership roles within BP India. Dube, a BP veteran, brings over two decades of experience in senior finance, commercial, and transformation roles across India, Singapore, and the UK. He is acknowledged for his track record of building teams and leading collaboration to support BP’s growth plans. From 2020 until 2023, as the CFO for Reliance BP Mobility Ltd (the mobility joint venture of BP and Reliance), Dube built BP joint ventures with Reliance Industries Ltd in India. He was senior manager of international Tax and Regulatory with EY. An alumnus of the University of Bombay (B.com), he has deemed CA from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.