Spotlight: CXO movements this week (Nov 18 — Nov 24) 

The week (November 18-24, 2023) was buzzing with several CXO movements in the technology industry with some of the major appointments in key business positions. While Sam Altman's shock return as chief executive of OpenAI late Wednesday — days after being sacked by the OpenAI board — grabbed eyeballs, there were also a number of other appointments announced in the tech universe this week. Companies like Microsoft, Infosys, HCLTech, ITC Infotech, New Relic, Tenable and SentinelOne made important new announcements in their leadership team. Movement also happened in startups like 5paisa, an online trading platform. Here’s the roundup. 

OpenAI’s Sam Altman fired and then rehired 

On Friday, November 17, Altman was fired by the OpenAI board. The following Monday, November 20, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman would be leading an advanced AI research team at Microsoft. Late on Tuesday, November 22, less than a week after having been fired, OpenAI announced that Altman was returning as CEO, and that its board had been reconstituted. The decision comes after intense pressure from employees and investors who strongly disapproved Altman's abrupt removal by the board last week. This development has put an end to almost a week-long period of chaos that sent shockwaves across the tech world. (Read more) 

Microsoft names Aparna Gupta as Global Delivery Center leader 

Technology giant Microsoft announced that Aparna Gupta will lead its Global Delivery Center (GDC). In her new role as GDC leader, Gupta will focus on customer innovation and delivery excellence, accelerating cloud growth with top-tier talent, industry depth, and partner ecosystem. Gupta joined Microsoft six years ago as the India lead for Commercial Software Engineering (now ISE). She holds a Master's degree in Engineering Sciences from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai, and has also been a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, serving as the Executive Sponsor for the Women's ERG Charter and building a diverse team. Most recently, Gupta served as the Customer Success Leader in the India and South Asia Area. (Read more) 

SentinelOne appoints Wayne Phillips as field CTO for APJ region 

SentinelOne, a US-based cybersecurity firm announced the appointment of Wayne Phillips as the new Field Chief Technology Officer for the Asia Pacific and Japan region. With over 25 years of experience in enterprise security, strategy, and product development, Wayne brings a wealth of expertise to further strengthen SentinelOne's commitment to its partner community and customers in the region. Wayne joined SentinelOne three years ago and has played a crucial role in shaping the company's growth and success. His strategic vision and deep understanding of cybersecurity have significantly contributed to the company's evolution.  

ITC Infotech has appointed Gopal Sharma as its new CIO 

ITC Infotech, an IT service provider, has appointed Gopal Sharma as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO). Formerly serving as CIO at Microland Limited, Sharma brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles at Accenture, Infosys, Tata Steel, and IBM.  His new role involves the redesign of enterprise-wide business processes and technologies. A B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, he will play a key role in assisting the company's clients in achieving their strategic business objectives efficiently and at scale. (Read more) 

Former Walmart tech executive Rohit Ramanand joins New Relic 

Web analytics and observability platform New Relic announced the appointment of former Walmart technology executive Rohit Ramanand to the role of group vice president engineering for India. Ramanand is responsible for leading New Relic India’s product and engineering teams and will play a pivotal role in helping develop the company’s broader engineering strategy while building out the local team. He brings almost 25 years of industry experience to the new role, most recently holding the position of Vice President Engineering at Walmart Global Technology. Prior to his role at Walmart, Ramanand held technology positions at Limelight Networks, Sapient and Infosys. (Read more) 

Rajesh Chaurasia joins Infosys as AVP from Accenture Industry X 

Rajesh Prasad Chaurasia has joined Infosys as an associate vice president and will be leading the engineering services for aerospace, automotive, discrete and turbo machinery domains in Europe. He is based in Germany. Chaurasia, a post-graduate in Applied Mechanics from IIT, Delhi and RWTH Aachen University in Germany, joins Infosys from Accenture Industry X, where he led the aerospace & defence domain, along with important clients across automotive & discrete manufacturing domains. At the Accenture Innovation hub he incubated and led the setup of the end-to-end demonstration for digital thread and digital twin. This is Chaurasia's second stint with Infosys. During his earlier 12-year stint from 2006, he played a role in setting up the TMP practice and growing the company's PLM (product lifecycle management) portfolio.  

IESA Appoints Ashok Chandak as its New President  

India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), the premier trade body representing the Indian electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry, appointed Ashok Chandak as its new President. As the President, Chandak will play a pivotal role in steering the organisation towards innovation and growth. He will be responsible for formulating strategic initiatives and advocating for policies that promote the interests of the semiconductor and ESDM industry for ‘Make in India’. Chandak has over three decades of experience in semiconductors and electronics across various global companies and has been instrumental in driving several initiatives to promote the growth and innovation of the ESDM sector in India and abroad.  

Talib Yousry named channel director at Tenable 

Cybersecurity firm Tenable has named Talib Yousry as channel director for the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region. Based in Singapore, Yousry assumes a pivotal role in steering Tenable's channel strategy, overseeing partnership initiatives, and advancing the company's collaborative efforts with the channel in this dynamic region. Yousry brings over two decades of technology and telecommunications expertise to Tenable, having previously served as the senior regional director for APJ Channels & Alliances at Forcepoint. In this role, he successfully led the organisation's channel and partner ecosystem across the Asia Pacific region. 

Zscaler appoints new leadership to drive AI innovation 

US-based cloud security company Zscaler announced the appointments of two senior executives — Claudionor Coelho Jr. and Mohamed Shabar — who join as Chief AI Officer and EVP, Data & AI Platforms respectively. The additions to the Zscaler executive team reinforce the company’s commitment to driving rapid innovation in advanced applied AI/ML to help define the future of cloud-based security technologies. Shabar is experienced in driving the next generation of automation, AI, and cloud platform development. Previously at Salesforce, he led the Marketing Cloud Technology organisation. Coelho brings a wealth of expertise to help Zscaler deliver a competitive technology advantage through the development of AI and ML innovations. Prior he served as the Chief AI Officer and SVP of Engineering at Advantest. (Read more) 

HCLTech's chief delivery officer steps down 

India’s third largest technology services provider HCL Technologies, in a BSE filing, has announced that its chief delivery officer Apparao VV has resigned from his position. He was heading the Nearshore and New Vistas locations of the company.  In a restructuring bid on October 11, 2022, the company had appointed Apparao as the chief delivery officer. Before that, he was serving as the chief human resources officer (CHRO) since 2017. His association began with the company way back in 2003 when he joined as the delivery unit head. After three years, Apparao was elevated to vice president and integrated service delivery head, Skandia. Till 2012, Apparao was the executive vice president of HCL Technologies in Bengaluru. (Read more) 

WebEngage elevates Ankur Gattani to chief growth officer 

Mumbai-based user engagement platform WebEngage has announced the elevation of Ankur Gattani to chief growth officer. Gattani, who has been heading the marketing function for the B2B SaaS leader, will now also take charge of customer growth and success functions in this newly constituted role, to help the company with readiness for its next growth phase. An IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta graduate, Ankur joined WebEngage in 2021. Under his leadership, while the business has grown immeasurably, WebEngage’s marketing practice has also strengthened multifold. He has also institutionalised several initiatives of the Marketing function such as its flagship education initiative EngageMint, and State of Retention Marketing Podcasts. 

5paisa appoints former Paytm executive Ameya Agnihotri as CTO  

Online trading platform 5paisa announced on Friday that it has appointed former Paytm executive Ameya Agnihotri as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In his previous role within Paytm's Travel division, Agnihotri led a team of 110 engineers. Over the last 17 years, he played a pivotal role in successfully developing digital platforms for diverse industries across continents. Agnihotri's extensive experience also includes notable positions at Berlin-based Zeotap as CTO, along with roles at Uber, Pub Matic, and Veritas. He holds a Master's in Computer Application from the University of Pune. (Read more)