Vaswani to steer Kotak Mahindra Bank

Ashok Vaswani will take over as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD and CEO) of Kotak Mahindra Bank. As per the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approvals, his tenure as MD and CEO of the bank is for three years, with effect from 1st January, 2024, as per Kotak’s BSE exchange filing. Vaswani succeeds Uday Kotak, who quit as the bank’s MD in September 2023, handing over the baton to Dipak Gupta, the interim MD and CEO whose term ends on 31st December, 2023. Kotak Bank has zeroed in on banking stalwart Vaswani, becoming the bank’s first non-promoter chief. Vaswani was former President, at Pagaya Technologies Ltd, a US-Israeli AI fintech company. Uday Kotak acknowledged Vaswani as a world-class leader with a digital and customer-centric focus, and that they were bringing in a 'Global Indian' home to steer Kotak Bank. In previous roles, Vaswani has had long innings with Barclays, a London-based multinational bank as its Chief Digital Officer (November 2021-July 2022), as CEO, of Global Consumer, Private, Corporate and Payments (April 2019-November 2021), and as the CEO of Barclays UK (March 2016-April 2019), overseeing the bank’s retail and business banking operations, UK cards and UK wealth divisions. He headed Barclay’s verticals including personal and corporate banking, retail and business banking, becoming the CEO of Barclays Africa (October 2011-September 2012) and the CEO of the Cards division Europe (February-October 2010). He has had eight years of association with Citi Group including that of CEO-Citigroup Asia Pacific. He was also a member of Citigroup Global Operating and Management Committees. An alumnus of Mumbai's Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, Vaswani is a qualified chartered accountant and company secretary.

Anant Goenka takes the reins as VC, RPG group

Anant Goenka has been appointed as Vice Chairman of the diversified RPG group. He will continue to hold the position of Vice Chairman, of CEAT and Zensar Technologies. His role would be to intensify and spearhead the group's digital and innovation parameters, including sustainability and guide the next phase of the group's expansion. He previously steered CEAT as Managing Director and was its CEO for 10 years. His leadership enhanced the company’s market capitalisation by over 20 times. He was instrumental in CEAT winning the prestigious Deming Grand Prize, making it the first tyre brand globally to receive the historic accolade for business excellence. Before his days at CEAT, Anant kick-started his career with Unilever and RPG group company KEC International. He is a graduate of the Wharton School (B.Sc. Finance) with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. Anant began his career with Unilever and the RPG group company, KEC International before joining CEAT.

HDFC’s Puri joins Deloitte as Senior Advisor

Aditya Puri, former managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HDFC Bank Ltd. joins Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLP, as Senior Advisor. His industry insights and experience in creating a world-class institution will help steer Deloitte in bringing a transformative change across industries, particularly India's financial services sector. His expertise and experience in driving tech-enabled transformations in the financial services sector is expected to further boost financial inclusion across India. Puri’s passion for innovative solutions and strategies would reshape the sector, bringing in financial accessibility for all. Puri took over as CEO of HDFC Bank in September 1994 and retired in October 2020, becoming the longest-serving head of a private bank in India with his 26 years of association with HDFC Bank. Before he established HDFC, he spent 20+ years with Citibank across India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Greece, and Saudi Arabia. His last role was as the CEO of Citibank for its Malaysia operations. He holds a degree in Commerce from the Panjab University and is a qualified chartered accountant

Indian-American scientists receive the US National Medal for Technology and Innovation

Mumbai born, Indian-American scientists receive the White House National Medal for Technology and Innovation.

Distinguished Indian Americans - Ashok Gadgil and Subra Suresh have become the proud recipients of the prestigious White House National Medal for Technology and Innovation, the highest honour for technological achievement in the United States. They received the honour from US President Joe Biden in the East Room of the White House, on 24th October, 2023. Gadgil and Suresh were listed among several other awardees for providing life-sustaining resources to communities worldwide. Gadgil, considered a “humanitarian inventor", is a retired faculty and Senior Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Suresh is a professor at Brown University’s School of Engineering and a former director of the National Science Foundation. Gadgil, one of 12 recipients of the medal, is a distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, who has developed low-cost solutions including safe drinking water technologies, energy-efficient stoves and for efficiently making electric lighting affordable, across some of the developing world’s most inflexible problems. Gadgil is a renowned inventor and innovator in the field of sustainable development and his projects have helped more than 100 million people. His work is channelled around his belief, offering dignity to all in resolving sustainability and life challenges. Gadgil’s award is the 17th national medal overall and the 2nd National Medal of Technology and Innovation awarded to Berkeley Lab researchers. Gadgil graduated in Physics from the University of Mumbai and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has a MSc and PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. Subra Suresh, awarded the National Medal of Science, is an Indian-born American bioengineer, materials scientist, an academic, and Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is the first Asian-born professor to lead any of the five schools at MIT. His focus is on the intersection of engineering, physical sciences, life sciences and medicine. Suresh is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and earned a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, in Cambridge.

Polycab’s Jaisinghani top gainer on Forbes Rich listing

Inder Jaisinghani, Chairman and Managing Director of Polycab India, has been ranked 32nd, jumping 28 places higher from his previous 60th position in the latest 2023 Forbes India’s list of 100 wealthiest Indians. Jaisinghani's current net worth of $6.4 billion, is a 91% rise from his 2022 net worth of $3.35 billion, gaining maximum mileage in business and on the Forbes list. As per Forbes India, Jaisinghani’s enhanced wealth is attributed to an increase in electrification opportunities. Polycab India, incorporated in January 1996 manufactures and sells LED lighting and luminaires, switches and switchgear, solar products wires and cables and electric fans. In 1968, he dropped out of school, aged 15 years, and assisted his older brother, Girdhari, in managing the family business after their father's demise. In October 2021, Jaisinghani entered Forbes India rich list for the first time, with a debut ranking at 57th position with a net worth of $3.6 billion. While the combined wealth of the Forbes India billionaires total up to around $799 billion, Mukesh Ambani, Chairperson, Reliance Industries, has reclaimed his numero uno position. He has pushed back last year’s top ranker Gautam Adani, Founder and Chairperson of the Adani Group, to the second position in the latest 2023 Forbes listing.

Baxter’s Gupta joins as MD, Roche Diagnostics, India

Roche Diagnostics has appointed Rishubh Gupta as the new Managing Director for India and neighbouring markets. In his new role, he is expected to lead and oversee the company’s operations, growth initiatives and strategy, across Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Under his leadership, Roche Diagnostics will continue to make a significant impact on healthcare in the region. Before joining Roche, Rishubh had a successful nine-year stint with Baxter International Inc. During his tenure with Baxter, he held significant positions of Cluster Head (Malaysia, India, and Singapore), General Manager, India; Director, Marketing Hospital Products – Asia Pacific and Business Head, Generic Injectables. He began his career journey with Prima Clinics and moved on as a Trainee to Abbott Healthcare Pvt Ltd, in India, as a Marketing Specialist with Quest Diagnostics. He holds a degree in hospital and healthcare management (MHA) from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore).

HP ropes in Ipsita Dasgupta as SVP and MD

Ipsita Dasgupta takes charge as the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Hewlett Packard’s (HP) India market. She will be responsible for all aspects of the personal computer makers strategy and P&L across India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Ipsita, a former Senior Director of Marketing for Apple Services, will be joining HP on October 30, reporting to David McQuarrie, HP’s Chief Commercial Officer. Before joining HP, she has been steering Global Synergy Marketing, External Partnership Marketing, Consumer Insights, and Market and Competitive Intelligence for Apple’s subscription services. She brings in 24 years of her international experience in operations across multiple industries. During her career span, she has supervised P&Ls across multiple industries and marketing, strategy and growth functions for global multinationals (both B2B and B2C), with regional and global responsibilities. Before Apple, Ipsita has had multiple stints working for esteemed corporates in executive positions as President of Corporate Strategy and Incubated Business (Star India), and as Chief Commercial Officer for South Asia and Greater China (General Electric Company). She is an alumnus of the Columbia University and the Harvard Business School.

Tareq Amin joins as CEO, Aramco Digital

Oil giant Aramco has appointed Tareq Amin as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aramco Digital, the company’s recently formed enterprise digital technology subsidiary. Amin is the former CEO of the Japanese Rakuten Mobile and its cloud platform and Open RAN-focused vendor offshoot Rakuten Symphony. Amin shared the news via his X (Twitter) account, hinting that he would contribute to the digital revolution in Saudi Arabia. His role will be centred on private 5G network developments and collaboration with Samsung. He is considered as the poster child for open RAN, and a pioneer in the field. Saudi Aramco launched Aramco Digital, a wholly owned subsidiary, aimed at accelerating digital transformation within the Kingdom and the MENA region, to provide state-of-the-art AI and emerging technology expertise. Amin joined Rakuten in 2018 as CTO of the Japanese mobile operator and was a driving force at the Indian telco Reliance Jio, where he built the company’s greenfield 4G LTE network.

Niharika Mohan elevated to HR-VP, Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric promotes Niharika Mohan as the Vice President - Human Resources (VP-HR) of Secure Power International, a solutions partner for Schneider Electric’s data centre and 3-phase UPS systems. The new role adds to Niharika's almost 15-year journey with Schneider. She previously held the CHRO position with Schneider Electric’s Indian arm, Luminous Power Technologies. At Luminous, she was responsible for people's strategy and workplace compliance across all business divisions. Niharika’s new role is expected to accelerate a dynamic and diverse team across East Asia, Japan, South America, India, the Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Based in Dubai, Niharika will replace Natalja Kissina, former VP-HR with Secure Power. Niharika has 21+ years of industry experience across business transformation roles including diverse HR practices to organisational design and restructuring, succession planning, D&I and M&A integration, change management, compensation and benefits and talent management. Her previous stints before joining Schneider were as a Compensation and Benefits Consultant, with Hewitt Associates and as an HR Business Partner with Tata Consultancy Services. She has a postgraduate honours degree from Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi University) and certification from INSEAD (Transforming Schneider–Level 3 Programme certificate)