Spotlight: CXO movements this week (Jan 1 — Jan 6)

The first week of January saw a handful of CXO movements in the technology industry. Indian IT services companies such as Tech Mahindra, Mphasis and Birlasoft made important appointments in key business positions. Movement also happened in companies such as CitiusTech and Synchron. Here's the roundup: 

Former Infosys EVP Richard Lobo joins Tech Mahindra as CHRO

Tech Mahindra has appointed former Infosys EVP Richard Lobo as its Chief People Officer. This will be a global role for Lobo, coming as a part of Tech Mahindra’s ongoing leadership restructuring under new CEO Mohit Joshi. Lobo is a former colleague of Joshi and an Infosys veteran having worked with the IT services giant for over 22 years. He resigned from Infosys in August, following which he was working as an HR consultant and strategic advisor at embattled edtech unicorn BYJU’s. Lobo replaces Harshvardhan Soin, who takes over the role of president- Asia Pacific & Japan effective January 3. As a seasoned HR leader, Lobo specialises in strategically aligning talent within organisations to create a people advantage for businesses.  (Read more) 

Indian IT company Mphasis appoints new Europe & GBPS head

Indian IT services company Mphasis, has announced the appointment of Ashish Devalekar as its new Head of Europe. Meanwhile, Anurag Bhatia, the current Head of Europe, will take the lead in Mphasis' Global Business Process Services business (BPS). Devalekar, comes with over two decades of experience driving consist ent growth in Europe, and will be responsible for leading Mphasis' Europe business. With a proven track record of transforming businesses into high-growth units, Devalekar brings expertise in closing large deals, building high-performing teams, and implementing effective Go-to-Market (GTM) strategies. Before joining Mphasis, Devalekar served as the Managing Director and Head of Europe and the Middle East at Virtusa for four years and as the Head of Financial Services UK at Capgemini. (Read more) 

Birlasoft appoints Manjunath Kygonahally as CEO for ROW region

IT services and consulting company Birlasoft has appointed Manjunath Kygonahally as the chief executive officer (CEO) for the Rest of the World (ROW) region, which includes all regions outside of the Americas. Kygonahally will be based in the UK and will be responsible for all business and strategic growth initiatives in the ROW region.  An industry veteran, Kygonahally worked at Cognizant for the last 26 years. Before joining Birlasoft, he was the communication, media and technology (CMT) Industry Head at Cognizant Global Growth Markets, based out of London. Kygonahally’s has experience in working across units including market strategy, business development, service delivery, and operation. Through his career, he has built high-performing teams and led strategic programs across the United States, United Kingdom & Ireland, and Europe. (Read more) 

CitiusTech appoints Sudhir Kesavan as Chief Operating Officer 

CitiusTech, a provider of healthcare technology services, solutions, and platforms, to global clients, announced the appointment of Sudhir Kesavan as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Kesavan will assume responsibility for leading CitiusTech's global delivery organisation. This will encompass enhancing practice capability, service delivery maturity, market innovation to drive profitable business growth by collaborating across practices, markets, delivery, and functions. Prior to CitiusTech, Sudhir served as Partner, Advisory - Cloud Transformation, responsible for PwC India’s cloud business. Sudhir also has a rich experience working for large scale IT companies like Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services. (Read more) 

Synchron appoints Riki Banerjee as Chief Technology Officer 

 US-based endovascular company Synchron announced the appointment of Riki Banerjee as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In December 2022, Mumbai-based Reliance Digital Health, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries had picked up a 2.25% stake (on a fully diluted basis) in Synchron as part of its Series C financing round. Banerjee joined Synchron in September 2021 as Vice President of R&D and will now be responsible for leading all research and development (R&D) activities, including advancing Synchron’s neuroprosthesis device for patients with severe paralysis. She succeeds Nick Opie, Ph.D., the founding CTO and co-founder of Synchron, who remains on the Board of Directors. Banerjee received a Ph.D. and a Masters of Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.