Spotlight: CXO Movements (Oct 12 – Oct 18)

The week of October 12-18, 2024, saw several notable technology appointments. Accenture elevated its long-time executive Kishore Durg to a new technology role, Applied Materials India appointed a new President, a former Indian Bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) joined Sify Technologies, and Siemens welcomed a new Chief Information Officer (CIO). Movements also happened in the French IT firm Atos. There are other exciting CXO announcements this week. Here’s the roundup:

Accenture elevates Kishore Durg as Group Operating Officer for Technology

Accenture, a global management consulting and professional services provider, has announced the appointment of Kishore Durg as Group Operating Officer — Technology, effective December 1, 2024. He will report to Karthik Narain, Group Chief Executive — Technology and Chief Technology Officer.

Durg, who has over 25 years of experience in the global technology industry, will continue in his current role as Senior Managing Director of Accenture LearnVantage and will remain a member of Accenture’s Global Leadership Council.

Durg succeeds Jeremy Oates, who has served as Group Operating Officer for Accenture Technology for over a decade. Oates will retire from the company in 2025. Durg has held various leadership roles at Accenture, including overseeing Operations Supply Chain, Industry X, and Networks. He was instrumental in developing Accenture Cloud First platforms and led a successful acquisition strategy, resulting in over 40 acquisitions. Durg holds an MS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Arlington and a BE in Computer Science from the University of Mysore. (Read more)

Applied Materials India appoints new president

Semiconductor firm Applied Materials has appointed Avi Avula as the president of its India office. In addition, Avula is also assuming the role of vice president of the semiconductor products group (SPG) Asia. This is Avula’s second stint at the company. He previously worked there between 2006 and 2014 at different positions, including director of corporate business development and managing director of advanced packing and growth.

Besides Applied Materials, Avula has worked at organisations such as DuPont and Methode Electronics; he is an industry veteran with close to three decades of experience. An alumnus of Osmania University, Texas A&M University, and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Avula’s last held role was that of SemiAdvisory’s director.

The post was vacant since January 2024 when the previous Applied Materials India president Srinivas Satya, who had joined Applied Materials in 1995 and became the President and MD, exited the firm to join Tata Electronics. (Read more)
 
Atos appoints its seventh CEO in three years
 
French IT company Atos appointed Philippe Salle as its new CEO, who becomes the seventh chief executive in three years. Salle will take over as CEO on February 1 next year. He will also hold the role of company chairman, effective immediately. Salle is set to replace Jean-Pierre Mustier, who himself has only served as CEO since July, having initially joined Atos as chairman in October 2023.

An experienced executive and CEO, Salle’s most recent role was as CEO of real estate technology and services group Emeria, but he has extensive experience in IT consultancy, serving as CEO of Altran Group, which later became Capgemini.

Mustier took over as CEO from Paul Saleh, who had been in post since January 2024. He replaced Yves Bernaert, who himself had only been in post for just over a year. Prior to this, the CEO role was shared by Nourdine Bihmane, Philippe Oliva, and Diane Galbe, who took over when Rodolphe Belmer was ousted after less than a year in post. Atos is currently finalising a restructuring plan, which it hopes will bring its debt under control and end years of financial uncertainty.
 
Former Infosys exec joins Siemens as CIO

Former Infosys executive Sikhin Tanu Shaw has joined the German multinational technology conglomerate Siemens as Chief Information Officer (CIO), Head of Information Technology — Siemens Financial Services — India. Shaw shared the information in a LinkedIn post.

Shaw comes with nearly 23 years of experience in the industry. Before joining Siemens, he served at Canfin Homes Ltd for over six years as CIO. Prior to that, he was associated with Infosys for around 16 years handling various key positions.

He holds a degree in Digital Transformation from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore) and an MBA in Engineering Management from Coventry University, England. Shaw also holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Information Technology from Calcutta University. (Read more)
 
Former Indian Bank CEO joins Sify Technologies as Director

Sify Technologies has appointed Padmaja Chunduru to its Board of Directors. With extensive banking experience, she has held key positions at the State Bank of India (SBI) in India and the US, and served as Managing Director and CEO of Indian Bank, overseeing its merger with Allahabad Bank, recognised as a Harvard case study. She later led National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), developing a blockchain platform for corporate debt tracking.

Chunduru has been on several boards, including LIC and NPCI, and is currently a member of the Insurance Advisory Committee of IRDAI. She has received multiple accolades, including the Best CEO (BFSI) award in 2021 and recognition as one of Fortune India and Business Today's Most Powerful Women in Business in 2022 and 2023. (Read more)

AuthBridge appoints new chief of tech and products

Authentication firm AuthBridge has appointed Naveen Goyal as the chief of technology and products. Goyal will leverage his experience in emerging technologies and building trust ecosystems to help the firm as it expands its offerings, the company said in a statement. He will be driving AuthBridge's technological innovation and product development.

Goyal has worked in e-commerce, travel, and gaming. He has two decades of experience in the internet space and has also founded online ventures. He has made successful exits from his past entrepreneurial ventures from India, the Philippines, Ireland, France, Costa Rica, and Canada. (Read more)

Google gets a new chief technologist amid AI push

Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's senior vice president in charge of search, ads, and other prominent products, is leaving his role to assume a new position as the tech giant's Chief Technologist.

Nick Fox, a Google veteran and member of Raghavan’s leadership team, will be taking over his role to lead the tech giant's knowledge and information products which include search, ads, geo, and commerce products. This development comes amid a broader reshuffling in the firm's Knowledge and Information (K&I) team, with the Gemini app team led by Sissie Hsiao joining Google DeepMind under its chief executive Demis Hassabis.

Raghavan joined Google in 2012 from Yahoo, where he managed search and ad ranking. Initially, he was Vice President of Google Apps and Cloud, contributing to AI features like Smart Reply and Smart Compose in Gmail, which helped the platform surpass 1 billion users. In 2018, he became Senior Vice President of Ads, Commerce, and Payments, and since 2020, he has led Google Search and Assistant. Under his leadership, Google introduced AI-enhanced search features, including AI Overviews and video comprehension, as well as AI-driven functionalities in Google Maps and Shopping, and new AI-powered ad formats. (Read more)