Spotlight: CXO movements this week (April 6-12)

The week (April 6-12, 2024) was buzzing with high-profile CXO movements in the tech industry. Indian IT major Wipro’s appointment of Srinivas Pallia as the new MD & CEO of the company with the sudden resignation of incumbent Thierry Delaporte made headlines this week. The IT firm also made other important appointments in key business positions. Surinder Chawla's resignation as MD & CEO of Paytm Payments Bank also created a buzz this week amid the company's fight with multiple battles on the regulatory front.  non-tech firms like Disney Star and Sun Pharma hired new technology executives to lead their digital agendas. Movements also happened in startups like Pocket FM. Here’s the roundup:

Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte Resigns, Srinivas Pallia to Take Over
Thierry Delaporte, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of software services firm Wipro Limited, has announced his resignation effective April 6. The Bengaluru-headquartered company has revealed that Srinivas Pallia will be succeeding Delaporte. After leading a significant transformation at Wipro for the past four years, Delaporte is stepping down to pursue interests outside of the workplace. Delaporte was recruited from Capgemini to lead Wipro four years ago. During his time at Capgemini, he held various leadership positions, including Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Group Executive Board. Pallia, on the other hand, is a Wipro veteran with over three decades of experience at the IT services firm. He most recently served as the CEO for Americas 1, Wipro's largest and fastest-growing strategic market. In this role, he oversaw various industry sectors, established their vision, and implemented growth strategies that led to increased market shares within those sectors. Pallia is also a member of the Wipro Executive Board. (Read more)

Wipro Appoints Malay Joshi to Succeed Pallia as CEO-Americas 1
IT services company Wipro has appointed Malay Joshi as the Chief Executive Officer of Americas 1 strategic market unit, effective immediately. Joshi will also be part of Wipro’s executive board and will be based out of Wipro’s New York City office. Joshi succeeds Srini Pallia in this role, who was appointed as the company’s CEO and managing director on April 6 after Thierry Delaporte stepped down from the position. Like Pallia, Joshi is also a Wipro veteran, having worked in the company for the last 28 years. In his previous role, Joshi was the Senior Vice President and head of Wipro’s largest business unit, which handles communication, media, tech, retail, travel, hospitality, and the public sector. In this role, he was responsible for enterprise transformation, client experience, delivery, and revenue. Joshi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Engineering and has graduated from Harvard Business School’s Leading Global Businesses Executive Program and Advanced Program Management from Stanford University. (Read more)

Disney Star Promotes Tirthankar Dutta to Head of Enterprise IT and Cybersecurity
Tirthankar Dutta, former Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Star & Disney India, has been promoted to the position of Head of Enterprise IT (equivalent to Chief Information Officer) while also leading the cybersecurity business at Disney Star. On April 14, 2022, Disney India rebranded Star India to Disney Star. Disney India, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, owns Disney Star, an Indian media conglomerate that operates over 70 television channels in eight languages. Before joining the company in 2021 as VP and CISO, Dutta served as the Head of Information Security and Senior Vice President at IT firm InfoEdge. Throughout his career, he has also worked with brands like Forbes, Expedia, Religare, HCL Technologies, and IBM. (Read more)

IESA Names V Veerappan as Chairperson, Announces New Executive Council
The Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) announced the new Executive Council during the annual member meeting held in Bangalore. Leading the charge in IESA's new leadership lineup is Dr. V Veerappan, who assumes the role of Chairperson for the 2024-25 term and serves as the Co-Founder & President of Tessolve Semiconductor Private Ltd. He succeeds Sanjay Gupta, the President and CEO of Minda Corporation, who is moving to an advisory role. The Council includes the VP and Country Manager at Siemens EDA Ruchir Dixit, who assumes the role of Vice Chairman, and Sudhir Naik, Founder & Advisor of EInfoChips Ahmedabad, as the treasurer. The newly elected council members include Navin Bishnoi - India Country Manager and AVP Compute & Custom Solutions at Marvell India, Rajeev Khushu - Director of Corporate Affairs and Government Relations Texas Instruments, and Sanjeev Keskar - CEO, Arvind Consultancy. The new Executive Committee comprises five members retained from last year's Executive Committee. (Read more)

Pocket FM Strengthens Tech Leadership with Key Appointments
Pocket FM, a leading audio series platform, has announced the addition of three seasoned technology experts to its leadership team. Umesh Bude has been appointed as the Senior Vice President of Engineering, Rohan Gandhi as the Vice President of Analytics, and Rupesh Gopal as the Vice President of Engineering. Umesh Bude, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in engineering and data science, takes on the crucial role of Senior Vice President of Engineering. His responsibilities include shaping the technological foundation of Pocket FM, focusing on engineering excellence, GenAI solutions, and information security. Rohan Gandhi, with over 12 years of expertise in analytics and data platforms, assumes the position of Head of Analytics & Data. He aims to foster an analytics-driven culture within Pocket FM to facilitate informed decision-making and drive growth. Rupesh Gopal, boasting more than 18 years of experience in software development and architecture, joins as the Vice President of Engineering. He will lead the software development and cloud infrastructure teams to scale the technology behind Pocket FM's products, emphasizing product innovation and technological advancement. (Read more)

Sun Pharma Welcomes Dheeraj Sinha as New EVP and Chief Information Officer
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited announced the appointment of Dheeraj Sinha as the new Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Information Officer (CIO). He steps into the role previously held by Anil Rao, the former Senior Vice President and CIO. Sinha brings over thirty years of experience in the technology and management sector, having recently completed an eight-year tenure as the EVP and Group CIO at JSW. His career includes significant positions at major corporations such as JSW Group, Apollo Tyres, Infovergix Technologies, UMIT Ltd., and Modi Xerox, showcasing his extensive information technology and leadership background. Before his role at JSW, Sinha dedicated over twelve years to Apollo Tyres, serving as the Group CIO and Head of Global Supply Chain, marking a significant phase in his career. His educational background is equally impressive, with a B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, and an MBA in Finance and Operations from MDI, alongside Strategic Leadership Programs at Brown University and IMD Lausanne, Switzerland. Sinha is currently furthering his education with a Ph.D. at Narsee Monjee University, Mumbai. 

Surinder Chawla Steps Down as MD & CEO of Paytm Payments Bank
Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) will now be bidding adieu to its CEO and managing director (MD) Surinder Chawla by June 26. In its regulatory filing, the parent entity of the fintech major, On97 Communications (OCL), stated that Chawla submitted his resignation on Monday (April 8) and will be relieved from his duties by June 26, unless the two parties decide otherwise. According to the filing, the departing CEO and MD cited personal reasons and a desire to explore better career prospects behind the decision. However, the company has not yet disclosed who will be replacing Chawla. Chawla joined the payments bank in February last year. He is a Chartered Accountant and has been associated with the banking space for nearly three decades. He has worked with prominent names like HDFC Bank, RBL Bank, Standard Chartered, ABN AMRO Bank, and Citibank. Besides being the chief executive, Chawla was also an independent director of the PPBL board. On February 26, Paytm founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma stepped down from the board of Paytm Payments Bank.