Uber hires ex-Facebook exec Namit Jain to lead core platform in India

Ride-hailing company Uber has announced that it has hired Namit Jain, as a new Senior Director, Engineering, to lead its data, core infrastructure and platform teams in India.

Jain will head a team of engineers working to bolster the company's core platform and leverage data to improve efficiencies in Bengaluru's new office.

“I am excited to join forces with the amazing teams here at Uber, and embark on what I am certain will be an exciting journey alongside incredibly talented people who are mission driven. It feels special to join a pioneering company whose products are used by millions of people daily across the globe,” he said.  

The company said that its tech centres in India are working across domains and geographic lines to innovate for markets globally.

“We are excited to be making talent investments in our engineering organisation in India and Namit’s joining is a testament to our commitment to hire some of the best tech talent that India offers. Namit has led tech organisations in similar capacities and I’m looking forward to his leadership helping us grow and move forward,” said Smitha Subhas, Lead HR Business Partner, Tech at Uber.  

Jain joins Uber with over 25 years of experience, including a long stint in the San Francisco Bay area working at Oracle and Facebook, where he was the first PMC chair for Apache Hive. After moving back to India, he started Nutanix India from scratch, a pioneer in hyper-converged infrastructure. 

Post that, he headed engineering at Qubole, and in his most recent role, Jain was Vice President of Engineering at Cohesity, a US-based data management company. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, and secured his Master’s in Science from the University of Minnesota in the US.

Uber said that it is committed to the growth and recognition of tech talent in India and aims to continue strengthening the workforce at the twin tech centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.