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

From AI-first startups to IT services majors and industrial manufacturers, companies including Anthropic, Emids, Stashfin, HCLTech, Balasore Alloys, Maxivision and GlobalLogic have made key senior leadership appointments this week. The moves underline a common theme: scaling AI adoption, strengthening core platforms and tightening execution as businesses prepare for their next phase of growth. Here’s a roundup of the latest CXO movements.

Anthropic appoints ex-Microsoft India chief Irina Ghose as India MD

US-based AI company Anthropic, creator of the Claude.ai assistant, has appointed Irina Ghose as Managing Director for India. The appointment comes as India emerges as Anthropic’s second-largest market globally for Claude.ai usage, reflecting accelerating enterprise and developer adoption. She most recently served as Managing Director of Microsoft India, where she led the adoption of enterprise AI across various sectors, including banking and financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, technology services, and government. Ghose brings over three decades of experience spanning enterprise sales, go-to-market strategy and ecosystem development. At Anthropic, she will lead India strategy with a focus on enterprise adoption, partnerships and policy engagement. (Read more)

Emids names Sathiyan ‘Seth’ Kutty as Chief AI Officer

Healthcare and life sciences technology firm Emids has appointed Sathiyan (Seth) Kutty as Chief AI Officer to steer its AI and data strategy as clients move from pilots to enterprise-scale deployments. Kutty brings over two decades of experience across analytics, AI, and enterprise technology, having held senior leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente, Tesla, VMware, and Intuit. His background spans building scalable AI architectures, modernising analytics platforms, and operationalising AI for large, distributed organisations. At Emids, Kutty will focus on embedding AI into core healthcare workflows while ensuring regulatory compliance and operational alignment. (Read more).

Stashfin appoints Abhishek Gupta as CTO

Digital lending platform Stashfin has named Abhishek Gupta as Chief Technology Officer as it looks to scale operations. Gupta will oversee cloud infrastructure, data and AI platforms, cybersecurity, and product-led innovation, with a mandate to build scalable, reliable, and cost-efficient systems. He brings extensive experience from senior technology roles at Zupee, Creditas Solutions, ibibo Group, and Times Internet, where he built and scaled large consumer-facing platforms. A key focus of his role is embedding AI across engineering, product, and operations—from AI-assisted development and automated CRM workflows to data-driven collections and operations enablement. 

HCLTech elevates Sandeep Saxena as Chief Growth Officer

IT services major HCLTech has elevated long-time leader Sandeep Saxena as Chief Growth Officer – Growth Markets 2, placing him in charge of India as well as the Middle East and Africa. Reporting to CEO C Vijayakumar, Saxena’s mandate is to accelerate growth across these markets, building on his experience scaling HCLTech’s Europe business.

Balasore Alloys appoints Deepak Sengupta as CTO

Balasore Alloys Limited, part of the Ispat Group, has appointed Deepak Sengupta as Chief Technology Officer to drive its enterprise-wide technology and digital transformation agenda. Sengupta is leading a ₹12.5 crore digital investment roadmap spanning over 100 initiatives, including AI-led predictive maintenance, digital twins for furnaces and mining operations, enterprise data platforms, and automation across manufacturing and supply chains. He is also building a “Digital Brain” architecture integrating data lakes, analytics, APIs, and real-time dashboards. Prior to this role, Sengupta served as Group CIO at Shyam Metalics and held senior technology roles at Tata Steel Long Products, Usha Martin, and Vikram Solar, bringing deep Industry 4.0 expertise.

Maxivision names Dr Naresh Yallapragada as CTO

Eye care chain Maxivision Super Speciality Eye Hospital has appointed Dr Naresh Yallapragada as Chief Technology Officer. Formerly Group CIO at Rainbow Children’s Hospitals, Dr Yallapragada brings extensive experience at the intersection of clinical care and healthcare IT, with prior roles including Group CIO at Rainbow Children’s Hospitals, where he led large-scale IT modernisation across clinical and operational systems. His career also includes senior leadership roles at KIMS and Continental Hospitals, along with entrepreneurial experience as founder of a B2B marketplace platform. At Maxivision, he will focus on strengthening HIS and EMR platforms, analytics, and digital enablement to support patient-centric care, operational efficiency, and scalable healthcare delivery.

GlobalLogic appoints LuJean Smith as CMO

GlobalLogic, a Hitachi Group company, has appointed LuJean Smith as Chief Marketing Officer, effective January 6. Smith brings nearly 30 years of global marketing leadership experience across technology and consulting sectors. Reporting to President and CEO Srini Shankar, she will lead GlobalLogic’s global marketing strategy with a focus on strengthening brand positioning and driving growth. Her mandate includes amplifying GlobalLogic’s role as a digital engineering partner, showcasing its VelocityAI suite of AI-powered offerings, and highlighting collaboration within the Hitachi Group.