Ravinder Pal Singh, CIO, Vistara, quits
Ravinder Pal Singh, Chief Information Officer (CIO), resigns from Vistara, the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines promoted Vistara airlines. Pal Singh’s resignation effective from January 15, 2021, marks the second top-level exit since December 2019 when ex-chief strategy and commercial officer, Sanjiv Kapoor had put in his papers. As a key member of the company’s senior leadership, Ravinder has been instrumental to Vistara’s success in building the airline with a modern, world-class, robust technology foundation. Vistara has yet to announce Singh’s replacement.
Srikant Datar
Rattan Lal
Narinder Singh KapanyDatar, Lal and Kapany bestowed Padma awards
Srikant Datar, the recently appointed Dean at Harvard Business School (HBS) along with two other noted Indian Americans - Rattan Lal and late-Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumous) have received India’s prestigious Padma awards this year. While Datar and Lal are both Padma Shri recipients, Kapany was awarded Padma Vibhushan. Datar became the 11th dean of the iconic HBS from January 1, 2021, having served his tenure with the school as Senior Associate Dean for University Affairs (including his role as Faculty Chair of the Harvard Innovation Lab), in his capacity in Research, executive education, faculty development and recruitment. Kapany is renowned as the ‘father of fibre optics’, who breathed his last in the U.S. in December 2020 at the age of 94. Hailing from Moga in Punjab, he was an Indian-American physicist best known for his work on fibre optics. He had more than 100 patents to his name and was the first to transmit images through fiber optics back in 1954. Rattan Lal, a native Indian and a U.S. citizen, is a professor of soil science at the Ohio State University. He received the 2019 Japan Prize for the sustainable soil management for global food security and mitigation of climate change. He was also awarded the 2020 World Food Prize for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production, which restores and conserves natural resources and eases climate change.
HUL’s Tiwari to replace Pathak as ED, Finance
Ritesh Tiwari will take charge as Executive Director, Finance and as Chief Financial Officer and as a Board Member of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) effective from May 1, 2021, subject to government approvals. In an important rejig by the FMCG major, Tiwari will also take over as the Vice President Finance, South Asia, Unilever. Tiwari, currently the VP Finance Global Performance Management is based out of the United Kingdom, he will succeed Srinivas Phatak. A Chartered Accountant from ICAI, Tiwari has had a long haul of 21 years with HUL, joining as a management trainee in 1999. Over the past two decades, he has been at the forefront managing diverse roles, both within India and across Unilever in core areas of finance. He has also played an important role as a business partner to frontend sales, categories and supply chain. Pathak, meanwhile, is stepping up in his new role as Executive VP (EVP) Financial Control and Risk Management. To be based out of Unilever’s London headquarters, Pathak will be part of the Finance Leadership Executive Team.
Delaporte’s organisational rejig triggers an exodus
Wipro, CEO, Thierry Delaporte’s ambitious rejig of the company structure has resulted in a major exodus of 75 Senior Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents and about 300 general managers from the firm in the past few months. Delaporte, who took over the reins six months ago, believes that accountability has been adversely impacted due to the several layers in the organisational structure. This was the first major restructuring exercise that aims to simplify the current organisational structure by driving growth in markets beyond the U.S. The objective was to reduce the number of layers in the firm as an effort to drive sharper client focus. As part of the restructuring, effective January 1, 2021, Wipro has replaced its earlier structure of seven strategic business units, service lines and nine geographies with four strategic market units (SMUs) and two global business lines (GBLs). Likewise, Wipro has selected leaders best suited for the roles in the new structure. This has narrowed down the top layer of the organisational pyramid. The company is also in the process of hiring external talent and will be onboarding several senior regional leaders and global account executives soon. According to Wipro, Delaporte has moved away from more than 20 P&Ls to four. He had said in reported interviews, “Clients expect the firm to be proactive, disrupt them, have strong opinions, challenge the status quo and be a proactive force of change.”
Ashwini Kumar Tewari appointed as MD, SBI
Ashwini Kumar Tewari, MD and CEO of SBI Card has been designated as Managing Director (MD), State Bank of India (SBI). His appointment was approved by the bank’s Board Bureau in October 2020 as Tewari took over as MD and CEO of SBI Card on August 1, 2020. He has tendered his resignation before he can onboard as Managing Director of SBI. “We wish to inform that Ashwini Kumar Tewari, Managing Director and CEO (nominated by State Bank of India) of the company has tendered his resignation from directorship of the company with effect from the close of business hours of January 27, 2020. He will also cease to be the MD and CEO of the company from the said date,” said SBI Card in a regulatory filing.
Vijay Sethi quits Hero MotoCorp
Hero MotoCorp’s Vijay Sethi, donning three hats as the company’s CIO, CHRO and Head CSR has relinquished his 13 years of service with the company. Effective January 22, 2021, MotoCorp will have to find adequate replacements for the triple roles managed by Sethi. To tide over Sethi’s absence, the automaker has appointed Pradeep Eledath to hold the fort for its IT function during the interim period until a new CIO is appointed. Pradeep has more than 25 years of experience in information technology, digital transformation and cybersecurity. Before joining Hero MotoCorp in 2007, Sethi worked with Ranbaxy and TCS in multiple senior roles. Sethi effectively managed all his three critical roles as CIO, CHRO and Head of CSR through his mantra of setting effective and efficient processes, time management, effective delegation and technology. In past interviews, Sethi had said that he managed his triple roles without getting into micromanagement and is a firm believer of a paperless way of working. “Approvals have to be on workflows, signatures have to be digital wherever possible and that not only helps in better compliance but saves a lot of time for me. There are apps on my mobile that not only help me in my day-to-day work but also provide me with all crucial information and alerts,” said Sethi.
Harjot Singh promoted as global CSO of McCann Worldgroup
McCann Worldgroup has realigned its global leadership platform by promoting advertising stalwart, Harjot Singh as the Global Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) from his initial role as Chief Strategy Officer for Europe and the UK. In previous roles with McCann Worldgroup, Singh has served as the executive Vice President and Global Strategy Director for over a decade. Singh joined McCann after leveraging successful stints as Senior Vice President at Grey Group and as Vice president at Leo Burnett. Singh’s promotion is part of the ad agency’s top management rejig that also announced Chris Macdonald as its new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Macdonald has previously served as President, advertising and allied brands for McCann and will now focus on leading the advertising network along with Singh. Singh’s promotion as global CSO and Devika Bulchandani’s recent move as CEO, Ogilvy North America and Global Chairwoman of Advertising has ushered in a new wave of Indian experts in the ad industry globally in the post-Covid-19 world.
Nirgudkar takes over as MD of BAE Systems, India
Ravi Nirgudkar takes over as Managing Director of leading defence firm, BAE Systems, India, succeeding Nik Khanna. Khanna is slated to take up a new role with BAE Systems’ air sector in the UK. Nirgudkar will lead BAE Systems’ operations in the market and help build on the company’s track record of partnering with the Indian defence sector. He joins BAE having relinquished his role as Country President, Raytheon Technologies where he was in charge of business development, marketing and strategy for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Of his 25 years in international business development and programme management, 21 years has been dedicated to Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services and Space and Airborne Systems businesses. India is seen as a key strategic market for BAE Systems and Nirgudkar’s induction is expected to lead the company in this market.
Chowdhry to head Citi’s Global Consumer Banking
Arjun Chowdhry takes over as Citi’s Consumer Business Manager (CBM) - Global Consumer Banking, in India. Reporting to Ashu Khullar, CEO, Citi India and Fabio Fontainha, APAC and EMEA Head of Retail Banking, Chowdhry is expected to take charge of all of Citi’s consumer businesses. In his new role, Chowdhry will manage Citi’s comprehensive set of consumer businesses in India, including credit cards, retail banking, wealth management, loans and mortgages, in India. Besides, credit cards, retail banking, wealth management, loans and mortgages also remain in his domain. As part of the Asia Consumer Leadership team, he will align global and regional priorities while also attracting the right talent to build world-class teams. Chowdhry’s stint with Citi began as a management associate where he held diverse roles starting with Consumer Operations, and working his way across Wealth Management, Suvidha (Citi at Work), NRI and Deposit products, Credit Cards, Loans and Payments. He is an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.
Radha Dhir to replace JLL’s CEO Ramesh Nair
Radha Dhir will take over as CEO of global property consultant, JLL India as she replaces CEO and Country Head, Ramesh Nair who has relinquished his role in search of greener pastures outside the realms of the company. She will be a member of the Asia Pacific Executive Board, and will also chair the India Leadership Council. Dhir is an experienced financial services executive, who has held senior leadership positions with Deutsche Bank India and Yes Bank. Associated as Group President at Yes Bank in her previous role, she also led their multinational corporate banking. Prior to that, she was Managing Director also, Head of Global Subsidiary Coverage Group, Deutsche Bank India, and a member of the Executive Committee at Deutsche Bank India.
Sonthalia resigns as CFO, L&T Infotech
The board of directors have considered, L&T Infotech’s Chief Financial Officer, Ashok Sonthalia’s resignation citing personal reasons. “The board of directors in its meeting held on January 19, 2021, inter-alia considered the resignation of Ashok Kumar Sonthalia, CFO of the company, on account of personal reasons and accepted the same to be effective from the close of business hours of January 25, 2021,” said the company in a filing to the stock exchanges.
Bharti Airtel appoints Pradipt Kapoor as CIO
Pradipt Kapoor takes over as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Bharti Airtel replacing Harmeen Mehta who has moved to London to lead British Telecom’s digital innovation agenda. Reporting to Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel, Kapoor will also be a member of the Airtel management board. In his new role, Kapoor is expected to drive Airtel’s overall engineering strategy and play a key role in realising the company’s digital vision. He will also oversee the delivery of cybersecurity and cloud businesses, which were managed and headed by Mehta. Kapoor takes over from Mehta and her legacy, especially, lauded for driving the company’s collaboration with Amazon Web Services, among others, under its enterprise segment. An accomplished engineering leader, Kapoor believes in creating value by enabling technology that is focused on outcomes. His most recent assignment was as Global Head of Products and Solutions Engineering with A.P. Moller Maersk. Prior to this, he has had over 10-year stint with SITA Inc. (U.K.) overseeing products’ engineering. He has also had formative experience as an entrepreneur.
LIC’s Mohanty appointed as MD
Siddhartha Mohanty has been elevated as Managing Director (MD) of India’s largest insurer the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) with effect from February 1, 2021. He moves on from his current role as CEO and MD to replace T C Suseel Kumar, who will retire on January 31, 2021. LIC currently has four MDs and one chairman. Prior to joining LIC Housing Finance, Mohanty was Executive Director with LIC-handling the legal department. He began his career journey with LIC as a direct recruit officer in 1985.
VMware appoints Venkatachalam as VP and CTO
VMware has appointed IT stalwart Guru Venkatachalam as its new Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Asia Pacific and Japan. He steps into the shoes of former CTO, Bruce Davie who has resigned. Prior to this role, Venkatachalam was CTO of Cloud Architecture at enterprise software major, VMware. He is expected to bring in 28 years of his IT experience to the table in his new role. He leads VMware’s efforts in the Asia Pacific and Japan in building trusted partnerships with customers and partners by delivering solutions aligned to their strategic priorities. He will also play an integral part in the further development of the company’s cloud, app modernisation, security networking, and digital workspace platforms. Guru, a seasoned industry leader has driven large scale innovation and expanded the firm’s CXO engagement in the Asia Pacific and Japan in the past.