Spotlight: CXO movement this week (May 13-19)

This week (May 13-19) saw several CXO movements in India’s technology industry – both large and mid-sized firms – with some of the major appointments in key business positions. Tech firms like Yotta, Persistent Systems and fintech platform Slice made important appointments. Data Security Council of India, an industry body on data protection formed by Nasscom, has elected the founder of IT firm Genpact Pramod Bhasin as the new Chairman. On the other hand, Meta’s director and head of partnerships in India said that he is stepping down from his role. Here’s the roundup.

DSCI names IT veteran Pramod Bhasin as its new chairman

Data Security Council of India (DSCI), an industry body on data protection formed by National Association of Software & Services Companies (Nasscom), has announced the appointment of Pramod Bhasin as the new Chairman. Bhasin, is the founder of IT firm Genpact Ltd which he founded in 1996 and led it until 2011. In his new role as chairman DSCI, he succeeds Rajendra S. Pawar, the Chairman and Co-Founder of NIIT Group, who had served as the Chairman of DSCI for a period of three years prior to this transition. (Read more)

Yotta hires two senior executives to lead its cloud, M&E divisions

Hiranandani Group’s data centre arm, Yotta Data Services has announced two C-level appointments - Tarun Kripalani as Media & Entertainment Evangelist and Siji Sunny as Chief Cloud Architect. Kripalani will spearhead Yotta’s innovation and expansion of digital solutions for the media and entertainment business vertical, whereas Sunny, who was earlier with SugarBox Networks, will drive the design, development, and implementation of Yotta’s Cloud and Edge initiatives. (Read more)

Former Wipro exec Gurvinder Sahni joins Persistent Systems as chief marketing officer

Pune-based IT firm Persistent Systems announced that Gurvinder Sahni has joined the company as chief marketing officer, after working with Indian IT major Wipro for 20 years, where he worked as chief of staff for the chairman’s office, strategic advisor to the chief growth office, and chief marketing officer, among others. In his new role at Persistent, Sahni will be responsible for leading and setting the strategic vision for Persistent’s global marketing team, the IT firm in a stock exchange filing. (Read more)

Slice appoints Razorpay’s Venkatesan Vaidhyanathan as chief architect of technology

Bengaluru-based fintech platform Slice has appointed former Razorpay executive Venkatesan Vaidhyanathan as Chief Architect of Technology. Vaidhyanathan has nearly 20 years of experience in building and scaling technology platforms across industries. The appointment comes at a crucial time for Slice as the company aims to strengthen its technological capabilities and accelerate its growth in the highly competitive digital payments market. (Read more)

SG Analytics appoints Sidhartha Shishoo as COO

Pune-based data analytics company SG Analytics has appointed Sidhartha Shishoo as chief operating officer as part of its scale-up efforts of enhancing senior leadership talent. Shishoo brings more than 25 years in various leadership capacities across multiple business functions. He has spent over a decade and a half in IT services firm Genpact, where he served as vice president - analytics operations. (Read more)

Dream11 appoints former WhatsApp exec Priyanka Kodikal as chief design officer

Fantasy sports platform, Dream11, has appointed former WhatsApp senior executive Priyanka Kodikal as its chief design officer. In her new role, Kodikal will be responsible for growing the company's design team and will play a key role in helping all its portfolio companies with their design philosophy and execution, co-founder Harsh Jain said. Kodikal previously looked after design for WhatsApp’s consumer products division, which comprises experiences across features such as messaging, groups, calling, status, camera, and user interface. (Read more)

Meta India head of partnerships Manish Chopra resigns

Meta’s Director and Head of Partnerships in India, Manish Chopra, has announced that he is stepping down from his role at the social media firm after serving for 4.5 years. Chopra has said that he would assist with the transition process in the upcoming weeks. Meta India has witnessed its fourth major departure in the past year, with the recent exit of former India head Ajit Mohan and public policy head Rajiv Aggarwal in November 2022.  (Read more)