Spotlight: CXO movements this week (May 11 - 17)

The week of May 11-17, 2024, was filled with significant movements in the tech industry, with key appointments in firms like Wipro, Honeywell Automation India, Freshworks, and Cohesity. Amazon Web Services (AWS) also announced a major shakeup, with current CEO Adam Selipsky stepping down and Matt Garman taking over. Startups like COGOS also saw changes. Here's the roundup:

Wipro COO Amit Choudhary steps down, Sanjeev Jain to take charge

Indian IT services firm Wipro on May 17 announced that its chief operating officer Amit Choudhary has stepped down effective immediately to pursue opportunities outside the organization. Choudhary, whose last date will be May 31, is being replaced by Sanjeev Jain and will be based in Bengaluru. Choudhary's departure is the second major one from Wipro, following Anis Chenchah's resignation on May 10. Choudhary, Chenchah, and former CEO Thierry Delaporte all have previous experience at Capgemini. Meanwhile, Jain will report to chief executive officer and managing director Srinivas Pallia and will continue to be a member of Wipro’s executive committee. Jain joined the IT firm in 2023 and in his new role, he will oversee global business operations, the chief information office, the chief information security office, and the enterprise risk management function. An alumnus of IIM-Mumbai, Jain has earlier worked at Kyndryl Holdings (IBM spin-off), IBM, Cognizant, and General Electric (GE).

Adam Selipsky steps down as AWS CEO, Matt Garman to take charge

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky has announced his departure from the company to pursue new ventures, marking the end of his three-year tenure at the helm of the cloud giant. With Selipsky's exit, the reins of AWS will pass into the hands of industry veteran Matt Garman. Selipsky’s decision to step down was confirmed by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who expressed gratitude for Selipsky's 15 years of service at the company. Selipsky's journey at AWS saw him rise through the ranks, initially overseeing the cloud business' sales, marketing, and support teams. After a brief departure in 2016 to lead Tableau, he returned to AWS, assuming the role of CEO in the midst of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Matt Garman, an 18-year veteran of AWS, is set to assume the role of CEO on June 3. Garman's extensive experience within AWS includes leadership roles in pivotal product divisions such as Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud and AWS Compute services. His most recent position was as Senior Vice President of AWS Sales, Market, and Global Services. (Read more)

Atul Pai joins Honey Automation India as MD

Honeywell Automation India Limited (HAIL) has appointed Atul Pai as the managing director, effective May 16. He takes over the role from Ashish Gaikwad who will now assume the broader responsibility as the India Leader for Industrial Automation, one of Honeywell International Inc’s strategic business groups. A two-decade veteran at Honeywell, Pai joined HAIL in 2001 and has held multiple roles including eight years as the global CFO for Honeywell Building Solution and Operations Controller for Honeywell. Pai is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Mumbai University. (Read more)

Freshworks appoints Ashwin Ballal as its new CIO

Chennai-based IT firm Freshworks announced the appointment of Ashwin Ballal as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO). Prior to this, Ballal served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Medallia. Ballal has over 30 years of experience in technology leadership and business strategy and will now be spearheading the company’s IT infrastructure, systems, and operations. During his tenure at Medallia, he successfully led and revamped the IT and security, workplace services, corporate procurement, and travel divisions. His preceding role was as the Chief Information, Intelligence, and Data Officer of KLA Corp. At the end of this quarter, Ballal will officially succeed the current CIO, Prasad Ramakrishnan. Ramakrishnan is retiring from Freshworks after six committed years of service. Ramakrishnan will collaborate closely with Ballal to ensure a seamless transition.

LTIMindtree’s ex-CFO Vinit Teredesai joins Persistent Systems

Indian mid-tier IT services major Persistent Systems announced the appointment of Vinit Teredesai as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), two months after his resignation as LTIMindtree’s CFO. Teredesai will assume the position at the Pune-based IT firm immediately, succeeding current CFO Sunil Sapre, who is slated to retire later this year. With over 28 years of experience in finance, accounting, auditing, taxation, fund-raising, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructuring, he has also served as the CFO at LTIMindtree, and Mindtree before that. a qualified chartered accountant, cost and management accountant, and certified public accountant in the United States, Teredesai has also worked as the CFO and CIO of KPIT Technologies. He has completed a General Management program from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), focusing on strategy, innovation, and technology. (Read more)

COGOS appoints new CTO, co-founder

Tech-logistics startup COGOS Technologies has elevated its Vice President of Technology Goutham Kumar BV to the post of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Kumar comes with over 20 years of rich experience, holding a bachelor's degree in computer science from Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur, Karnataka, and a diploma in computer science from Sandur Polytechnic. He joined COGOS Technologies in December 2021 as Principal Architect and later served in various key roles including VP of technology and CTO. Previously, he worked with several prominent organisations in important posts that include BMC Software as principal product developer andCaravel Info Systems as Project Leader. Kumar has also worked with Boston Technology Corporation as Programmer. (Read more)

Hiren Patel starts a new position as Co-Founder & CTO at Verofax

Hiren Patel has started a new position as Co-Founder & CTO at Verofax. Previously, he held the position of CTO at the same company. Prior to that, he has worked with Cygnet Infotech, Azilen Technologies, Vodafone, Amdocs, and Persistent Systems. He is a staunch advocate for harnessing the latest technological advancements, including Blockchain, AI, ML, Process Automation, UI/UX, Cloud, and Data Optimization, not only to stay ahead in the competitive landscape but to redefine it altogether. With a plethora of experience in managerial and technical leadership, Hiren Patel has skillfully navigated the complex terrains of both large enterprises and agile startups. His career milestones, including roles such as Manager at Vodafone, Assistant General Manager, Senior Manager, and Vice President of Engineering, have contributed to his diverse and extensive skill set.

Cohesity appoints Craig Martell as CTO

Data security and management company Cohesity has appointed Craig Martell as the chief technology officer. In this role, he will be bringing his industry expertise, especially in artificial intelligence (AI), to define and execute strategy and roadmap for the company. Further, founder, ex-CEO, chief strategy and technical officer Mohit Aron is stepping back to a founder emeritus role. Before Cohesity, Martell was the chief digital and artificial intelligence (CDAO) officer for the US Department of Defense (DoD).

In this first-of-its-kind role at DoD, Martell was responsible for accelerating the adoption of data, analytics, digital solutions, and AI functions. He was also involved in the digital and AI strategy development and policy formulation while ensuring the unity of mission and tighter integration for the department’s enterprise-wide data, AI, and cyber organisations. (Read more)