VC-backed Happiest Minds appoints Sashi Kumar as its CEO & MD

Bangalore-based Happiest Minds Technologies Pvt Ltd, a four-year old IT services startup floated by former MindTree chairman and co-founder Ashok Soota, has appointed Sashi Kumar as its chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD).

He takes over a post lying vacant last October when Vikram Gulati left the company. Soota, executive chairman, was in talks with Gulati for a change in location to Bangalore keeping organisational needs in mind.

But since it did not fit into Gulati's personal priorities, it was mutually decided that Gulati should be free to pursue a path outside while Happiest Minds would initiate a search for his successor.

Commenting on the appointment, Soota said, "Kumar's experience in global products and services companies will provide a push towards bringing innovation to Happiest Minds. This coupled with his expertise in global business services and SMAC+ technologies will further accelerate our success in implementing digital transformation solutions for our customers."

"Happiest Minds has shown growth under its current leadership and I am excited to be the CEO and MD of this fast growing company. I have an opportunity to build a global organisation and believe in its mission of happiest people, happiest customers," added Kumar.

Kumar has 23 years of experience, and prior to Happiest Minds, he has led significant operations in Microsoft, SAP and CSC. He had earlier also worked at Wipro.

Happiest Minds was launched in August 2011 by Soota and a team of industry experts. It has positioned itself as a next-gen IT solutions & services company, enabling organisations to capture the business benefits of disruptive technologies of cloud computing, social media, mobility solutions, Big Data analytics, M2M/IoT, and unified communications, etc. The company also offers IPs and domain expertise across a set of focused areas that include digital transformation & enterprise solutions, product engineering services, infrastructure management, security, testing and consulting.

According to the company, it has revenue run rate of $50 million, 94 customers and a team size of 1,450 people. It had secured $52.5 million in Series A funding, led by Canaan Partners. Intel Capital, Soota and other founders of the company also invested in the round. Headquartered in Bangalore, the company also has operations in the US, the UK, Singapore and Australia.