Spotlight: CXO movement this week (Aug 31 – Sept 6)

The week of August 31 to September 6 saw a flurry of leadership changes in the technology industry. Technology majors including Microsoft and SAP made significant announcements in critical business roles. Additionally, non-technology firms such as Standard Chartered, Adani Ports & SEZ, and Vivirti Capital also appointed senior IT executives to lead their IT and digital affairs. Movements also happened in startups such as Freshworks, Darwinbox and Meesho. Here's the roundup:

Freshworks ropes in new CTO after two years

Freshworks, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company with operations in Chennai and California, has appointed Murali Swaminathan as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He will oversee the company's technology strategy and lead global engineering teams, succeeding former CTO Shan Krishnaswamy, who left in September 2022. With over 30 years of experience, Swaminathan previously served as Vice President of Engineering at ServiceNow, managing key product lines for large enterprises. He holds a master’s degree in Software Engineering Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor’s in electronics and instrumentation from Annamalai University. (Read more)

Ex-CIO of Whirlpool Anand Hadgaonkar rejoins Eaton

Anand Hadgaonkar has rejoined Eaton as Global IT Director after serving as CIO for the Asia Pacific region at Whirlpool. He previously spent nearly 13 years at Eaton in various key roles. His LinkedIn highlights his ability to build high-performance teams. Before Whirlpool, he held senior positions at Cummins, Satyam Infoway, Global Electronic Commerce, and Finolex Cables Ltd. Hadgaonkar holds a Master's Diploma in Foreign Trade from Symbiosis Institute and a Master's in Management Studies from Savitribai Phule Pune University, along with certifications in AI-Machine Learning and Finance for Non-Finance Executives from IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi respectively. (Read more)

AWS’ Vaishali Kasture to head Microsoft’s SMC biz in India

Former Amazon Web Services (AWS) India interim country head Vaishali Kasture has joined Microsoft as India and South Asia's SMC (small, medium and corporate) lead. Kasture was the second top executive to depart from AWS to Microsoft last year, as the companies competed to get a larger share of the cloud business in India. Her predecessor at AWS, Puneet Chandok, took over as Microsoft India and South Asia head in September last year. Kasture brings a wealth of experience across Corporate and Investment Banking, Credit, Outsourcing and Technology, having recently led the AWS India Business where she set up the ISV (independent software vendors) segment, and led the Digital Native and Enterprise segments. Kasture took to LinkedIn to confirm the development. (Read more)

Standard Chartered appoints Alvaro Garrido as Group CIO

Standard Chartered recently announced the appointment of Alvaro Garrido as its new Group CIO & co-head of Technology and Operations (interim). In May 2022, Standard Chartered rehired Alvaro Garrido into the position of group chief information security officer (CISO). Earlier too, he had a stint at Standard Chartered, having been global head of technology between 2012 and 2016. He previously spent more than four years at BBVA in Madrid as group chief security officer (CSO), leading the team that manages information, data and cyber security, physical security, and anti-fraud operations. Prior to that, he was the group chief information officer at Nordea in Copenhagen. Garrido has been part of the company for almost two and a half years as Group CISO, looking after the company’s security.

Darwinbox elevates CTO Vineet Singh to co-founder post

HR Tech platform Darwinbox has promoted its chief technology officer (CTO) Vineet Singh as the co-founder. Singh was the first recruit to the company’s team in 2015. He has been pivotal in realising Darwinbox's vision to build a global-standard enterprise tech product from India. He has scaled the platform into a full-fledged HCM suite with 15 modules in just 6 years which is faster than any other enterprise HR tech. In the new role, Singh will be working to accelerate technological innovations, embedding artificial intelligence (AI) as a platform capability to deliver better experience and contextual intelligence. (Read more)

Meesho appoints former Meta exec as CPO

Meesho, an e-commerce marketplace, has announced the appointment of Mohit Rajani as its new Chief Product Officer (CPO). Rajani brings extensive experience from his previous roles at Meta, Google, and most recently at Carta, a technology company based in California. In his new role, Rajani will oversee the product management, design, and analytics teams. His responsibilities include driving product innovation and enhancing the overall customer experience on the platform. Rajani holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. (Read more)

Vivriti Capital appoints a new CISO

Saravanakumar Krishnamurthy has joined Vivirti Capital as the new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). In his new role, Krishnamurthy will lead the company’s information security efforts, overseeing the development and implementation of security policies, procedures, and programs to protect Vivriti Capital’s digital assets. Krishnamurthy brings nearly two decades of IT experience, specialising in cybersecurity and information security. Before joining Vivriti Capital, he was Executive Vice President of Technology Engineering – IT, Network & Cyber Security at YES Bank. He has also worked with several leading organisations across the telecom, automotive, banking, healthcare, and biotechnology industries, including KLA-Tencor, Scope International, Tech Mahindra, Wipro Technologies, Veeras Infotek, and Hinduja Foundries.

Nagarajan Vaidyanathan joins Prayagh Consumer Care as VP-IT

Nagarajan Vaidyanathan has joined Prayagh Consumer Care as Vice President of Information Technology which is equivalent to the CIO role. Before this, he was Head of IT Infrastructure at Britannia Industries. Nagarajan Vaidyanathan is based in Bengaluru and works at Britannia Industries Limited, where he holds a leadership position in areas including SAP, IT Security, and IT Infrastructure. He has over 21 years of experience in business analysis and client management. He has also been associated with Hindustan Unilever.

Ajitsingh Nawale joins as CIO at Adani Ports and SEZ

Ajitsingh Nawale has recently taken on the role of CIO at Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a prominent player in the logistics and infrastructure sector in India. In this capacity, he will be responsible for overseeing the company's IT strategy and implementation. Prior to his appointment at Adani Ports and SEZ, Nawale served as the Head of IT at CIE Automotive India Ltd., where he played a crucial role in driving IT initiatives and managing technology resources to support the company's automotive manufacturing operations. In addition to his tenure at CIE Automotive, Nawale has also gained experience with S. M. Auto Engineering, where he contributed to various IT projects and initiatives.

SAP’s CTO steps down over inappropriate behaviour

Juergen Mueller, the CTO of SAP SE, has resigned following allegations of unprofessional conduct. In an internal message, he took full responsibility for his "inappropriate" actions at a past company event and apologized to those affected. Details of the incident have not been disclosed. CEO Christian Klein will now oversee technology and innovation, while Thomas Saueressig will manage Mueller's team in global security and cloud compliance. Mueller, who joined SAP in 2013 and played a key role in developing the SAP Business Technology Platform, had his contract renewed in April, extending his role until 2027. (Read more)