Škoda Auto Volkswagen India appoints Karishhma Kumar as its new CIO

Škoda Auto Volkswagen India has appointed Karishhma Kumar as its new chief information officer (CIO). In this role, Kumar will be responsible for “strengthening core platforms, improving execution reliability, and ensuring technology consistently enables scale, performance, and informed decision-making across multi-brand, manufacturing-intensive operations”, she said in a LinkedIn post.

A digital transformation leader with over two decades of experience, she has worked across sectors as diverse as IT, insurance, automotive, elevators, and FMCG manufacturing.

Kumar has led large-scale transformation programmes across India and the Asia-Pacific region, combining IT modernisation with centralisation and deep process re-engineering. Some of the initiatives she has led include driving Industry 4.0 adoption on factory floors to redesigning customer engagement platforms and aligning IT with enterprise strategy.

In her last role, Kumar led the IT Service Line for German personal care products manufacturer Beiersdorf’s India hub. She has worked with Otis Elevator and Tata Motors Insurance Broking and Advisory Services. 

Notably, the German automaker announced key leadership changes in May 2025, appointing Ashish Gupta as Brand Director of Skoda India and Nitin Kohli as Brand Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

To be sure, multiple media reports have shown that Škoda Auto Volkswagen India is in exploratory talks with the JSW Group to form a potential joint venture aimed at strengthening Volkswagen Group’s long-term presence in the Indian market. The discussions come as Volkswagen reassesses its India strategy, particularly around future investments in SUVs and electric vehicles under its India 3.0 roadmap, where scale, localisation and cost competitiveness are critical. A partnership with JSW would allow the German carmaker to share capital risk while tapping into JSW’s growing automotive ambitions, manufacturing experience and understanding of the Indian market.