Ramkumar Narayanan promoted to lead innovation at eBay's India product development centre

Online auction and shopping major eBay Inc. has promoted its general manager (marketplaces) Ramkumar Narayanan to lead innovation at its India product development centre located in Bangalore. Narayanan, a former Yahoo executive who joined eBay in November this year, will focus on data-driven product innovation for supporting eBay businesses across multiple markets.

"The eBay Product Development Centre plays a strategic role in eBay's global product innovation, research and development. I look forward to this opportunity to work with a winning team that is responsible for driving the world's most trusted marketplace," said Narayanan.

An MS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan, Narayanan previously worked with Yahoo where he led product strategy and management at its software development centre in Bangalore. He also led a number of global product teams including search, commerce, advertising, small business and emerging markets (with primary focus on India and the Middle East). Prior to joining Yahoo, Ramkumar worked at Microsoft, both in the US and India.

"I am confident that with Ram's personality, skills and experience, the eBay Product Development Centre will be taken to the next level in delivery, value creation, culture of excellence and a career growth for employees," said Sri Shivananda, vice-president (platform and infrastructure) at eBay Marketplaces.

Narayanan had spent 12 years in the US and started his career at Chrysler Corporation where he developed innovative software applications, helping shorten the time-to-market for new vehicles. Later, he founded Engineering Dynamics Inc., a software services company that designed, developed and implemented software applications for chassis design and packaging for Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler Corporation.

Based in Bangalore, eBay's product development centre provides thought leadership and technology leadership for a variety of domains such as products and technologies, which drive the key business metrics. The product ecosystem covers product strategy and management, platform and application development, quality engineering, engineering systems, architecture, user experience and design, among others. In addition to global product development, the centre partners with eBay India and APAC business as technology and local innovation arm.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)