Spotlight: CXO movements this week (March 9-13)

Technology and enterprise firms continued to strengthen their leadership benches this week (Mar 9-13), with a series of CXO appointments across cybersecurity, healthcare IT and AI-led platforms. Companies including Microsoft, Moglix, Commvault, Semperis and Adani Healthcare announced senior hires across India and South Asia, underscoring a growing focus on cybersecurity leadership, digital transformation and enterprise AI capabilities. Later in the week, Adobe said that Shantanu Narayen would step down as Adobe CEO after nearly two decades in the company. Here’s a roundup:

Shantanu Narayen to step down as Adobe CEO after nearly two decades

Shantanu Narayen will step down as chief executive of Adobe, ending a nearly two-decade run at the helm of the creative software giant. Narayen, who has led the company since December 2007, will continue in the role until a successor is identified and will remain chairman of the board.
During Narayen’s tenure, Adobe expanded from roughly 3,000 employees to more than 30,000, while revenue grew from under $1 billion to more than $25 billion. The company’s creative suite—including Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro—became industry standards for digital creators.
Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 and rose through the ranks to become president and COO in 2005 before taking over as CEO in 2007 and chairman in 2017. Earlier, he held product roles at Apple and Silicon Graphics, and co-founded photo-sharing startup Pictra. He holds five patents and degrees from Bowling Green State University, University of California, Berkeley, and Osmania University.

Microsoft appoints Aman Malhotra as Security Engineering Leader for India-South Asia

Microsoft has appointed Aman Malhotra as Security Engineering Leader for India & South Asia, a move aimed at strengthening the company’s cybersecurity leadership and advancing secure AI and cloud security initiatives in the region. Malhotra brings over 15 years of experience across cybersecurity strategy, cloud security architecture and enterprise risk management. Over the course of his career, he has held roles at organisations including Punjab National Bank, Infosys, IBM, Capgemini and UST. In his new role, he will lead Microsoft’s regional security engineering initiatives and support enterprises in strengthening their cybersecurity posture.

Adani Healthcare names Himanshu Bhardwaj as CIO

Adani Healthcare has appointed Himanshu Bhardwaj as chief information officer (CIO), bringing more than 28 years of experience in IT and healthcare operations. Bhardwaj joins from Medanta, where he served as head of hospital information systems and IT applications, helping scale the healthcare provider’s digital infrastructure as it expanded into a multi-hospital network. Earlier in his career, he held technology leadership roles at firms including Polaris Consulting & Services, Virtusa and Intellect Design Arena. At Adani Healthcare, Bhardwaj will oversee IT strategy and digital systems as the organisation expands its healthcare services and infrastructure.

Moglix appoints Animesh Srivastava as chief technology officer

Moglix has named Animesh Srivastava as chief technology officer (CTO), tasking him with leading the company’s technology strategy and expanding its artificial intelligence capabilities. Srivastava will oversee engineering, product development, data science and AI platform architecture across Moglix’s business verticals. A key focus will be scaling Cognilix, the company’s AI-led operating system for B2B commerce, as Moglix positions itself as an AI-first platform for industrial procurement and supply chains.
He brings more than two decades of experience across enterprise technology and startups. Srivastava previously founded Ajani Infotech and co-founded electric mobility startup Massive Mobility, and has worked across India and the US.

Semperis names Shekhar Thakurdesai as Country Manager for India & SAARC

Cybersecurity firm Semperis has appointed Shekhar Thakurdesai as country manager for India and SAARC, where he will lead the company’s regional growth strategy. In this role, Thakurdesai will drive go-to-market initiatives, enterprise customer engagement and partner ecosystem development as Semperis expands its identity security and cyber resilience offerings across the region. He brings more than two decades of experience across cybersecurity, cloud and telecom. Prior to joining Semperis, he held leadership roles at Wiz and Recorded Future, and earlier worked at Palo Alto Networks, Intel and Cisco.

Commvault appoints Nithya Cadambi as GM of Global CoE

Commvault has appointed Nithya Cadambi as general manager of global centres of excellence. Cadambi will lead the company’s COE strategy, operational execution and talent development, with a focus on strengthening innovation and collaboration across teams supporting global customers. She previously served as senior director of finance at Commvault in India, working closely with the company’s customer organisation. Before joining Commvault, Cadambi held roles at Dell EMC and PwC, where she contributed to business transformation and operational initiatives across global organisations.

CitiusTech Appoints Dhaval Shah to Chief Business Officer 

CitiusTech, a healthcare technology services provider focused on digital and AI transformation, has appointed Dhaval Shah as Chief Business Officer – MedTech & Life Sciences. A founding employee with over 26 years of experience across HealthTech, imaging ISVs, providers, life sciences, and medical device companies, Shah will lead enterprise market strategy, strengthen client partnerships, and drive growth across the company’s MedTech and Life Sciences segments. Shah has spent over 19 years at CitiusTech and currently manages relationships with more than 50 clients. He is also a member of the company’s six-member Executive Council. Prior to joining CitiusTech, he founded a healthcare consulting firm and holds degrees in biomedical engineering from Wright State University.