Spotlight: CXO movement this week (Oct 7—Oct 13)

The week (October 7—October 13) was buzzing with several CXO movements in the tech industry with some of the major appointments in key business positions. Technology firms like Atlassian, Cognizant and Elastic, among others made important executive appointments, while non-tech firms like Shalimar Paints and IDBI Bank also appointed new executives to lead their technology business. Movements also happened in fintech firm FlexM and Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company, G42. Here’s the roundup:

Paranth Thiruvengadam to lead Atlassian’s India site

Atlassian Corporation, the maker of Jira software, has announced the appointment of Paranth Thiruvengadam as the India site leader and head of engineering IT service management (ITSM). With this appointment, Thiruvengadam will be leading the company’s 1,700 India-based workforce. An industry veteran, Thiruvengadam has over 20 years of experience in technology and business roles. He has been chief technology officer at Clear (formerly ClearTax) and MedLife. He has a background in developing software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms, web applications, and infrastructure as well as transaction platforms in domains like finance, supply chain, and healthcare. Thiruvengadam has also worked in senior positions in Yahoo!, IBM Labs and Walmart Labs. (Read more)

Ex-Xiaomi exec Manu Jain joins Abu Dhabi-based G42 as India CEO

Former India head of Xiaomi, Manu Kumar Jain, is joining G42 as the new CEO of its India business. Abu Dhabi-based G42 is an AI and cloud computing company that is set to expand to India. Jain left Xiaomi in January, ending his nine-year stint with the company. He joined the smartphone company at the time it was finding its foothold in the Indian market. At the time of his departure from Xiaomi, he held the post of global vice president and was based in Dubai. In the past, he co-founded the fashion and lifestyle e-commerce portal Jabong. (Read more)

Harcharan Singh joins Shalimar Paints as CIO

Jindal family-backed Shalimar Paints, the oldest paint company in India, has appointed Harcharan Singh as its new chief information officer (CIO). In a career spanning over two decades, he has worked with companies like Blackberry, Devayani International Limited, Alchemist, Care, Hyatt Group of Hotels & Resorts amongst many others. Singh was most recently VP-IT for Devayani International. (Read more)

IDBI Bank names Nehal Shah as new deputy CTO

IDBI Bank, an Indian public sector bank providing retail, corporate, investment and agri-business banking services, has appointed Nehal Shah as its new deputy chief technology officer (CTO). As part of his new role, Shah will be responsible for the bank’s IT security and digital channels across its immediate payment service, ATM, POS and internet and mobile banking functions. He joins IDBI following a five-and-a-half year tenure at the credit information company TransUnion CIBIL, where he most recently served as joint vice president, leading its consumer bureau, financial inclusion IT and release frameworks.

Elastic appoints new leaders in APJ for market expansion

Elastic, the company behind Elasticsearch and a platform for search-powered solutions, is expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region with several key leadership appointments. Andrew Habgood, a former Red Hat executive, has been appointed as the Vice President of Channels and Alliances for Asia Pacific and Japan, Chris Walker, with over 25 years of experience in top-tier software companies across EMEA and APJC, has joined Elastic as the Vice President of Solutions Architecture for APJ region and Ravi Rajendran has joined Elastic as the Area Vice President for Southeast Asia, among other key appointments. The company said that these appointments aim to strengthen the regional leadership team and drive market expansion. The new leaders will leverage their extensive experience in the technology industry to support customers and brands in the Asia Pacific. (Read more)

Lalit Trivedi joins FlexM as global head of information security

Lalit Trivedi has joined global fintech company FlexM as global head of information security. He has previously worked with ITI Mutual Fund where he served as head IT and chief information security officer (CISO). He was earlier associated with AdvanceOne UGANDA (Madhvani Group), Pragmatix Services, DBS Chola Mandalam Asset Management, ICICI Prudential AMC Ltd and Dynamic Interfaces & Technologies. Trivedi is known in the industry as a coding experts with tremendous knowledge in designing, developing, and maintaining products and apps which are being used extensively in asset management business.

Cognizant’s BFSI head Meera Krishnamurthy steps down

Cognizant’s BFSI head Meera Krishnamurthy, who managed a book of business worth nearly $6 billion, has quit the firm eight months after being promoted to this role. She joined Cognizant in 2005 and was elevated as SVP and strategic business unit leader for insurance, in North America, two years ago. Krishnamurthy said in a LinkedIn farewell post, she’s “leaving this unit in a better place and in the hands of three great leaders, two of them who were a part of my leadership team for over a decade and the third leader is my reference to Cognizant.” As per a TOI report, Cognizant BFSI portfolio is divided between three leaders — Nageswar Cherukupalli, former Infosys SVP and head of financial services and insurance, will lead banking and capital markets, Ajay Pandita, VP, and strategic business unit leader will take charge of cards, payments, and lending business, and Sarat Varanasi, insurance business unit leader at Cognizant, will take over its insurance business.