Spotlight: CXO movements this week (Dec 2 — Dec 8)

The week of December 2-8 saw several CXO movements in the technology industry, with major appointments in key business positions. Companies like Microsoft, SolarWinds, Innover, and Lloyds Technology Centre made important new announcements in their leadership teams. Movement also occurred in global companies such as Nvidia, Wipro, and Spotify. Here's the roundup:
 
Microsoft names new CISO in a major security shakeup 

Microsoft has appointed Igor Tsyganskiy as its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), effective from 1st January 2024. Tsyganskiy, who joined the IT vendor four months ago as Chief Strategy Officer, will replace Bret Arsenault, who held the CISO position for 14 years. Arsenault has been with Microsoft since 1990, first as a senior engineer before holding various security positions, ultimately being appointed as Microsoft's CISO in October 2009. Prior to joining Microsoft, Tsyganskiy served as Chief Technology Officer at Bridgewater Associates LP, a hedge fund that caters to institutional clients such as pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks. Before that, Tsyganskiy worked as Senior Vice President of Product Management at Salesforce Inc. and headed the Advanced Technology Group at SAP SE. (Read more) 

SolarWinds India appoints Abhijit Banerjee as managing director 

Secure IT management software provider SolarWinds has appointed Abhijit Banerjee as the new managing director of its India operations, including the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region which consists of countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In this role, Banerjee will lead the enterprise and channel business growth for the company in India. Banerjee has over 23 years of experience in sales management and worked in different technology landscapes including hardware, software, software as a service (SaaS), services, and consulting. He has held key positions in companies like Cisco, Oracle, Palo Alto, Dell EMC, and Wipro. In his last role, he was the senior client director (strategic accounts) at research firm Gartner. (Read more) 

Lloyds Technology Centre India appoints Vipul Singh as HR head 

Lloyds Technology Centre India has appointed Vipul Singh as the People Director and HR Head, marking a significant addition to their team. Singh arrives with an extensive 25-year career in diverse HR leadership roles across industries, renowned for his expertise and innovative approaches. His forte lies in driving digital evolution using robotics and AI, earning him recognition among India's 50 Best HR Leaders. Before joining Lloyds, Singh held the mantle of Senior Vice President and head of HR, Communications & CSR at ADP. His responsibilities encompassed managing offshoring locations in India, Romania, Brazil, and the Philippines for the Global Business Solutions (GBS) sector. Notably, he also served on the Board of ADP Philippines, emphasising his significant contributions to the organisation. 

Nxtdigital appoints Viresh Dhaibar as chief general counsel  

NxtDigital, the digital media division of technology-led customer experience company Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd. (HGS), with a presence in digital television via cable and satellite, broadband, enterprise services, OTT aggregation and content syndication has announced the appointment of Viresh Dhaibar as Chief General Counsel — with legal, regulatory and governance responsibility across all media verticals. Dhaibar is a highly respected and accomplished legal veteran in the media and entertainment industry — with a career spanning over three decades. He has worked with leading blue-chip organisations like Munjal Auto Industries Ltd. (Hero Group), Taj Television India Pvt Ltd and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited. He brings extensive experience in regulatory compliance, litigation, and contributing to consultation papers issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Viresh is an ex-member of the Legal Committee of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and has demonstrated exceptional ability and experience in various legal forums, including the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), High Courts, and the Supreme Court. 

Innover hires Raju Rampa as its chief growth officer 

Innover, a provider accelerated digital transformation solutions, has announced the appointment of Raju Rampa as its chief growth officer. Globally, the sales and partnerships teams of the firm will be led by Rampa. Driving revenue, securing profitable growth, expanding market share and nurturing customer-centricity, he will chart the course for short and long-term business success. With close to three decades of global experience in leveraging technology to deliver business impact, Rampa is a professional services growth leader. By developing successful go-to-market strategies, implementing digital initiatives at scale, developing product roadmaps, incubating customer-first solutions and mentoring and building high-performance teams, he has a track record of helping Global 2000 companies navigate the digital shift. 

Anima Anandkumar steps down as director of AI research at NVIDIA 

Anima Anandkumar, a director of AI and machine learning research at NVIDIA has stepped from her role. In a LinkedIn post, she said, “I have decided to leave my position at Nvidia to focus on starting something new, as some of you may already know. I look forward to scaling models with physical and scientific understanding to accelerate progress toward AGI.”

Anandkumar is a Bren Professor at Caltech and her work developing novel artificial intelligence algorithms enables and accelerates scientific applications of AI, including scientific simulations, weather forecasting, autonomous drone flights, and drug design. She is a fellow of the ACM, IEEE, and Alfred. P. Sloan foundation and has received the ACM Gordon Bell Special Prize for HPC-Based COVID-19 Research. She is part of the World Economic Forum's Expert Network. Anandkumar holds degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Cornell University and conducted postdoctoral research at MIT. She was previously principal scientist at Amazon Web Services.   

Spotify’s chief financial officer Paul Vogel quits 

Music streaming platform Spotify’s chief financial officer Paul Vogel will leave the company next year and that it has launched a search to find a replacement. Vogel’s last day at Spotify will be March 31, 2024. Vogel joined Spotify in 2016 to lead investor relations and the company’s Financial Planning & Analysis and Treasury teams. He assumed the CFO role in January 2020, taking over for previous chief financial officer Barry McCarthy, whom the company said was retiring. Before Spotify, Vogel spent the majority of his career in the investment community as a portfolio manager and equity research analyst. Most recently he served as a managing director and head of the internet and media equity research team at Barclays. He also worked as a research analyst at Morgan Stanley and DLJ. Vogel’s departure comes after Spotify announced on December 4 it would lay off 17% of its workforce, eliminating some 1,500 jobs worldwide. Daniel Ek, founder, chairman and CEO of Spotify, said in a statement that the company “is entering a new phase and needs a CFO with a different mix of experiences.” 

Wipro's chief growth officer Stephanie Trautman steps down 

Indian IT company Wipro said its chief growth officer Stephanie Trautman would be parting ways with the company at the end of next month.  

"Stephanie Trautman will be relieved from the services of the company with effect from January 31, 2024," the IT services major said in a regulatory filing. In the resignation letter attached with the exchange filing, Trautman said she has decided to pursue her "professional and personal goals outside of Wipro".  

Trautman is based in the United States and had joined Wipro three years ago. As the chief growth officer, she leads "Wipro’s relationships with hyper-growth partners, provides market intelligence through advisors and analysts, enhances Wipro’s brand awareness and develops sales capabilities", as per the company's website. Prior to joining Wipro, Trautman worked at Accenture for seven years, where she held various leadership positions. Before Accenture, she was a vice president at CSC (now DXC).