Sandeep Bakhshi takes over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of ICICI Bank. This move had to be initiated after former CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar quit office. The board of directors also decided that Bakhshi will hold office for a term of five years which will end on October 3, 2023. Bakhshi has been a prominent member of ICICI’s top management, holding the post of MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company since August 1, 2010. It was during this period that ICICI Prudential Life Insurance emerged as the leading private life insurance company in the country. He was also the Deputy Managing Director of ICICI Bank, wherein he headed the retail and subsequently the wholesale business at the bank. There have been a long list of portfolios Bakhshi has been holding such as MD & CEO of ICICI Lombard General Insurance to name one, which saw the firm emerge as a leading private general insurance company in the country. It has been an unbeaten innings for Bakhshi with ICICI Bank which started in the year 1986. A Mechanical Engineer from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh with a post-graduate degree in management from Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, he looked after corporate clients for the Northern and Eastern regions of ICICI Limited before joining ICICI Lombard in 2002.
Suruchi Maitra has been appointed as the new CHRO of Lenskart. Maitra was earlier handling cultural transformation and associated challenges at UnitedLex, as its Vice President, human resources. With Lenskart making waves in the corporate arena, Maitra’s role of HR will be in providing continued support through its phase of rapid development. She will have to lead HR with a focus on the culture of the company. Talent development and leadership development will be other major areas of focus. Given the exceptional pace at which it is advancing, HR will have to have the right culture and technology in place to be able to reach out to the Lenskart staff spread across the country, in its over 500 stores.
Rakesh Sharma takes charge as Managing Director (MD)and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IDBI Bank Ltd. In a government notification, it stated that Sharma’s appointment would be for a period of six months. One of the senior most in the field, Sharma retired from Canara Bank as MD and CEO after serving for a period of three years recently. He also held the position of Chairman in the group companies of Canara Bank. He also headed Lakshmi Vilas Bank as MD and CEO. It was a long innings of 33 years for the Post Graduate in Economics, and a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB) with SBI, wherein he held top positions including the Head of Mid Corporate Accounts in the Andhra Pradesh region, supervising retail operations in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh, banking operations in the International Banking Group, credit assignments in specialized branches/ administrative offices, among others.
Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General of Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), an economic policy think tank, and former bureaucrat Revathy Iyer have been appointed on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India, while cutting short Nachiket Mor’s tenure. Sources said that Chaturvedi, who was appointed on the central bank’s eastern board three weeks ago, has been given a four-year term. Mor, who heads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, had been given a four-year term that was to end in August 2021. He has now been relegated to the eastern board. It may be recalled that a section of the media reported that the government was reviewing the continuation of some of the members on the central board after appointing Swadeshi Jagran Manch ideologue S Gurumurthy and co-operative movement leader Satish Marathe to boost the system.
After being without an MD and CEO for six months, AirAsia India has found Tata Steel’s Sunil Bhaskaran is the right choice to head the budget airline, making him the third CEO of AirAsia India after Mittu Chandilya who served for less than three years, and Amar Abrol who quit in May this year. A seasoned campaigner, Bhaskaran was Vice President, corporate services at Tata Steel, and has over three decades of experience in manufacturing, export and commercial operations with the group. This airline, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Malaysian AirAsia Group Bhd, said in a statement that Bhaskaran’s appointment will come into effect from November 15, and he will oversee the next phase of expansion and growth of the company. Bhaskaran will be taking over an airline that has been under the scanner for some time now. In May, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a first information report (FIR) against AirAsia Group chief Tony Fernandes for bribing government officials in order to obtain flying licenses and changing regulations. The CBI also filed a case against R. Venkataramanan, managing trustee of Tata Trusts, and Tharumalingam Kanagalingam, deputy group CEO (operations), AirAsia, and three others.
The former Chief People Officer (CPO) of Uber, Liane Hornsey joins cyber-security firm Palo Alto Networks as their new EVP and CPO. She rejoins Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks who she worked with, in her previous stints at Soft Bank and Google. She was Chief Administrative Officer and operating partner with Soft Bank, while Arora was the President. She was VP-global sales at Google when Arora was CBO. Palo Alto Networks is a ten-year-old cyber-security organization, presently serving 50,000 companies globally. It boasts of an employee base of around 5,000 people. Arora joined Palo Alto as the CEO in June this year. Hornsey is also known for being Google’s first woman Vice President, human resources. Hornsey has vast experience in sectors such as technology, music and media and banking. At Uber, as SVP and CPO, she was a spokesperson on diversity and discrimination matters for more than a year and a half. Meanwhile, Nikki Krishnamurthy takes over after Hornsey as the CPO, Uber. Krishnamurthy, the former CPO of Expedia, the global travel technology company, will head the teams that handle human resources, recruitment, workplace, and diversity and inclusion at Uber.
The stage is gaining pace as James Murdoch has become the favorite to succeed Elon Musk as the Chairman of Tesla, which must replace the electric carmaker’s founder in the role. Musk agreed to leave the role as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit over claims that he broke securities laws in August with a tweet saying he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. He will stay on as chief executive officer. Two people briefed on the discussions said Murdoch, a non executive director of Tesla, was the lead candidate for the role, which is required by the SEC to be an independent chairman. Another person said external options were still being considered. Murdoch will step down as chief executive officer of 21st Century Fox when the media group completes the sale of its entertainment assets to Walt Disney, and is considering setting up a technology investment fund. He has also stepped down as Chairman of Sky following its recent sale to Comcast.
Manasi Kirloskar, Kirloskar Systems executive director and CEO has been appointed as the first United Nations in India Young Business Champion for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A statement issued by the UN-India business Forum (UNIBF) said that Kirloskar, as an emerging young business leader, has the unique ability to expand the dialogue on SDGs and business responsibility among her peers. She can also inspire other young leaders to be proactive in their support and action for SDGs, it added. The main focus for Kirloskar, according to the forum will be on the role of business in development, and to work with the UN on issues such as climate change, plastic, waste and women empowerment, besides playing an enabling role in driving the objectives of UNIBF. Reacting to the new role, Kirloskar said, “With the privilege comes responsibility and social accountability. I am honored and inspired by this opportunity to work with the UN as their first young Business Champion. The SDGs present a unique opportunity for industry to participate in India’s growth story for generations to come. Businesses have the potential to become catalysts and accelerators of sustainable development. Through my work here I look forward in amplifying this message among all young business leaders, whether employed or employers in startups themselves.”
QuoDeck, a game-based HR learning platform will have Venkataraman Ananthkrishnan to lead its online and global business. Ananthkrishnan has moved from Amazon, where he was senior program manager. He managed the ‘seller lending initiative’. After completing his engineering degree in 2005, Ananthkrishnan joined India Info line as risk analyst. However, this stint lasted only seven months and he moved to Edelweiss Capital as risk manager. Here he climbed up the ladder and became associate vice-president, product mortgages and housing finance. In 2015, he moved to Aditya Birla Finance as product head, retail loans. He has spent a good part of his 13-year long career span in the retail finance area, helping set up and scale the retail business serving micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and individuals. His interest has been in digital, optimized and scalable delivery mechanisms. Reacting on the move, Kamalika Bhattacharya, founder and CEO, QuoDeck expressed her confidence in Ananthkrishnan’s calibre and professional experience. She is of the opinion that Ananthkrishnan’s knowledge of online businesses will serve him in good stead in his attempt to contribute to the future growth of QuoDeck.
Well versed with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) since 1984, Prof. Shalini Bharat takes charge as the new director of the institute. She takes over after being the acting director since S Parasuraman, her predecessor, resigned earlier this year. A gold medalist in MA and a PhD holder from Allahabad University, Bharat joined as a lecturer in 1984, and went on to become the first dean of the School of Health Systems Studies. Later, she was elevated to the role of Deputy Director (academic), and then given the additional charge of acting director early this year. Bharat, a member of the governing body of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), has also served as the National Coordinator of Global Fund Project – Saksham. She is also known for her association with the National Rural Health Mission and her presence on the governing board of the National Health Systems Resource Centre, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. “I am happy to welcome Prof. Bharat as Director. As TISS gears up to cement its position as an institution of excellence in higher education, I am sure that Prof. Bharat, who brings with her a wealth of experience and vision, will take the initiative and ensure that TISS meets the challenges with passion and commitment,” said S Ramadorai, Chairman of the governing board, TISS.
Vinay Trivedi has been appointed as the Chief, human resources of ToneTag, sound-based proximity communications and payment services provider. Trivedi has earlier worked for Accenture, Axis Bank and Future Generally India Life Insurance which is backed by MasterCard, Amazon and Reliance Capital. He has moved from Future Generally India Life Insurance, where he was head – talent acquisition and HR business partner, and handled talent acquisition across the sales, corporate and operations teams. He also looked after talent management as the HR business partner for all channels and departments across the company. HR governance was also his responsibility. He has also worked with Axis Bank, ITC InfoTech, Summit HR, Accenture and HP. This will help the firm progress into the next phase of growth with an XLRI alumnus, who will be responsible for ensuring HR practices. He will focus on strengthening the hiring and selection process; he will be managing the attraction, management, engagement and progression of talent. His areas of expertise include management of HR generalist portfolios, entry level campus hiring, volume hiring, academic interface programmes, employee engagement, manpower budgeting and cost management.
by Joe Williams
