Spotlight: CXO movements this week (May 10-16)

The week (May 10-16) was buzzing with several CXO movements in the tech industry. IT companies such as HPE India, L&T-Cloudfiniti, Tech Mahindra, Meta and Sify Technologies, appointed industry leaders in key business positions. New-age companies like insurtech firm Claim Pro Assist and AI recruitment platform CoHyre.ai appointed tech executives to lead some of their IT and digital affairs. Here’s the roundup:

Bhawna Agarwal becomes HPE India’s Managing Director

Bhawna Agarwal has been promoted to Senior Vice President & Managing Director – India at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), leading HPE's strategy and business operations in India. She brings over 20 years of leadership experience across technology, media, and startups, having previously served in impactful roles at HPE, including Vice President, Country Head—industry Verticals, and Country Head—growth & Compute. Beyond HPE, Agarwal has contributed to organisations like Max Life, Ekcle Ventures, OYO, and VentureFund as a Board Member and Advisor. Her previous experience includes CEO roles at NDTV Gadgets360 and Seventymm.com, and senior leadership positions at Yatra, Times Internet, and Rediff. (Read more)

Subram Natarajan becomes Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at L&T-Cloudfiniti

Subram Natarajan joins L&T-Cloudfiniti as Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, bringing over 30 years of experience in cloud innovation and digital transformation. He will lead the company's technology vision and innovation roadmap, leveraging his expertise gained from leadership positions at Google and IBM. Most recently, as Field CTO and Director of Customer Engineering at Google India, he shaped cloud adoption strategies and scaled GTM initiatives. Previously, during a 25-year tenure at IBM, Natarajan served as CTO and Business Unit Executive, driving transformational projects and fostering innovation. His background in cloud computing, systems architecture, and customer-centric innovation will be critical to L&T-Cloudfiniti's mission to lead enterprise technology.

Meta expands India head Sandhya Devanathan's role to lead Southeast biz

Facebook-parent Meta has expanded India head Sandhya Devanathan's role to lead the company’s Southeast Asia business. Further, Benjamin Joe, a Meta veteran of 14 years, will succeed Dan Neary as the vice president of the Asia Pacific region. Devanathan was appointed the India head for Meta after Ajit Mohan exited the company in 2022. Her appointment at that time came amid a flurry of high-profile exits from the company’s India ventures. In the past, she has held several leadership positions at the company, including vice-president of gaming for Meta’s Asia-Pacific (APAC) division and the country managing director for Singapore and business head for Vietnam. In the past, she had leadership roles at Standard Chartered Bank and Citi. Devanathan is an alumna of the Faculty of Management Studies in Delhi. (Read more)

Unni Krishnan takes on a new role at Sify Technologies

Unni Krishnan has taken on the role of Head of Marketing at Sify Technologies Limited. He brings over 20 years of global marketing leadership experience in technology and digital services to Sify, where he will lead marketing strategy, brand positioning, and customer engagement. Previously holding senior roles at AIonOS, Coforge, and Capgemini Invent, Krishnan's expertise encompasses brand marketing, digital engagement, go-to-market planning, alliance marketing, and thought leadership. His accomplishments include spearheading global marketing initiatives at Coforge that resulted in a 20% increase in the sales pipeline and 50% growth in partner-generated leads, as well as shaping brand narratives and strategic marketing at Capgemini, elevating visibility among global CXOs. Krishnan's proven ability to build impactful marketing teams and strategies positions him to accelerate Sify's growth and strengthen its presence in the digital transformation landscape.

Tech Mahindra makes key executive appointments

Tech Mahindra has appointed Sahil Dhawan as Head of India, Middle East, and Africa (IMEA) Business, elevating him from his previous role as Global Head of Enterprise Applications. Dhawan will now lead Tech Mahindra's growth strategy and customer engagement within the strategically important IMEA region, focusing on business expansion and strengthening client relationships across key industries. Concurrently, Manish Mangal will become Head – Americas Communications Business. In this expanded role, Mangal will lead Tech Mahindra's Communications business across the Americas, a key growth market for the company. Mangal, previously CTO – Telecom Business & Global Business Head – Network Services, brings over 27 years of telecom experience and expertise in 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and cloud-native network technologies to the role. (Read more)

Mohan Shah joins ClaimPro Assist as Chief Technology Officer

Mohan Shah joins Claim Pro Assist Pvt. Ltd. as Chief Technology Officer, bringing nearly 30 years of IT leadership experience. He will spearhead the company's technology strategy, driving innovation and operational excellence. Previously, Shah held leadership roles at Max Transtech, DTDC Express, M3M India, and Transport Corporation of India, where he shaped IT frameworks, implemented large-scale technology solutions, and built robust tech teams. His expertise in enterprise IT and digital operations will be invaluable as Claim Pro Assist scales its technology capabilities.

Onward Technologies gets a new Chief Information Officer

Senthil Kumar Raman has stepped into the role of Chief Information Officer at Onward Technologies Limited. He brings over 20 years of experience in digital transformation, enterprise IT strategy, and analytics to lead the company's digital vision and technology initiatives, driving innovation and business value. Previously, Raman held leadership positions at Tata Technologies, including AVP – Analytics & Digital Solutions and Deputy CISO, where he spearheaded enterprise-scale IT and digital transformation projects focusing on technical architecture, RPA, cybersecurity, and cloud adoption over 15 years. Earlier roles at NCR Corporation, Fruition Morgensoft, and Aparajitha Total Solutions enhanced his expertise in web applications, functional design, and enterprise systems integration. Raman's experience delivering technology-driven business solutions makes him ideally suited to accelerate Onward Technologies' digital growth.

CoHyre.ai hires Vishal Sharma as CTO

CoHyre.ai, an AI recruitment platform announced Vishal Sharma as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with immediate effect. Sharma would lead the development of Aria, the platform’s AI recruiter agent. He will spearhead all things technology, from architecture to implementation, with a focus on ensuring that AI augments human decision-making rather than replacing it. His work is underpinned by a deep belief in using ethical, explainable AI to solve complex hiring inefficiencies and create real impact at scale. Sharma brings significant expertise in automation, backend architecture and AI–powered analytics. With a strong foundation in engineering and AI/ML systems, his experience in building technology at scale across India’s most dynamic startups makes him uniquely suited to lead CoHyre.ai product and platform evolution. An alumnus of IIT-BHU, Sharma has held senior engineering leadership roles at some of India’s most innovative startups, including Myntra, Avail Finance and Livspace.