Appointments
Indian-origin Arvind Krishna elected IBM Chief Executive Officer
NEW DELHI: The IBM Board of Directors has elected Arvind Krishna as Chief Executive Officer of the company and a member of the Board of Directors, effective April 6, 2020.
Krishna is currently IBM Senior Vice President for Cloud and Cognitive Software, and was a principal architect of the company’s acquisition of Red Hat.
James Whitehurst, IBM Senior Vice President and CEO of Red Hat, was also elected by the Board as IBM President, effective April 6, 2020. Virginia Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, will continue as Executive Chairman of the Board and serve through the end of the year, when she will retire after almost 40 years with the company.
“Arvind is the right CEO for the next era at IBM,” said Rometty.
“He is a brilliant technologist who has played a significant role in developing our key technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, quantum computing and blockchain. He is also a superb operational leader, able to win today while building the business of tomorrow. Arvind has grown IBM’s Cloud and Cognitive Software business and led the largest acquisition in the company’s history. Through his multiple experiences running businesses in IBM, Arvind has built an outstanding track record of bold transformations and proven business results, and is an authentic, values-driven leader. He is well-positioned to lead IBM and its clients into the cloud and cognitive era,”she added.
“Jim is also a seasoned leader who has positioned Red Hat as the world’s leading provider of open source enterprise IT software solutions and services, and has been quickly expanding the reach and benefit of that technology to an even wider audience as part of IBM,” Rometty continued.
“In Arvind and Jim, the Board has elected a proven technical and business-savvy leadership team,” he added
Virginia Rometty, 62, became Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of IBM in 2012. During her tenure she made bold changes to reposition IBM for the future, investing in high value segments of the IT market and optimizing the company’s portfolio.
Under Rometty’s leadership, IBM acquired 65 companies, built out key capabilities in hybrid cloud, security, industry and data, and AI both organically and inorganically, and successfully completed one of the largest technology acquisitions in history.
She reinvented more than 50% of IBM’s portfolio, built a $21 billion hybrid cloud business and established IBM’s leadership in AI, quantum computing and blockchain, while divesting nearly $9 billion in annual revenue to focus the portfolio on IBM’s high value, integrated offerings.
Rometty also established IBM as the industry’s leading voice in technology ethics and data stewardship, working relentlessly to usher new technologies safely into society, and enabling people of diverse backgrounds and education levels to participate in the digital future. She has been committed to building talent and skills around the world. She created thousands of New Collar jobs and championed the reinvention of education around the world, including the explosive growth of the six-year Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, or P-TECHs, which are helping prepare the workforce of the future, serving hundreds of thousands of students in 200 schools and 24 countries.
“Ginni has provided outstanding leadership for IBM, substantially transforming the company and ushering in a new cloud and cognitive era,” said Michael Eskew, Lead Director of the IBM Board of Directors.
“She has taken bold strategic actions to reposition IBM for the future, shedding businesses and growing new units organically and through acquisition, all while achieving record diversity and employee engagement and setting the industry standard for responsible technology ethics and data stewardship,” he added.
“With the strong foundation now established by Ginni for IBM’s future, the Board is confident that Arvind is the right CEO to lead IBM,” Eskew continued
. “The Board ran a world-class succession process and found in Arvind a leader with the business acumen, operational skills, and technology vision needed to guide IBM in this fast-moving industry,” he added.
“Arvind thinks and executes squarely at the intersection of business and technology,” said Alex Gorsky, Chairman of the Board’s Executive Compensation and Management Resources Committee.
“He is an ideal leader to succeed Ginni and take IBM and its clients into the next chapter of the cloud and cognitive era. Jim has been a great addition to IBM’s leadership team. His considerable business and leadership skills will help IBM grow and flourish, and as President he will help Arvind and IBM continue to accelerate and scale the benefits of Red Hat, while ensuring that Red Hat also preserves its unique culture and commitment to open source innovation,” he added.
“I am thrilled and humbled to be elected as the next Chief Executive Officer of IBM, and appreciate the confidence that Ginni and the Board have placed in me,” said Krishna.
“IBM has such talented people and technology that we can bring together to help our clients solve their toughest problems. I am looking forward to working with IBMers, Red Hatters and clients around the world at this unique time of fast-paced change in the IT industry. We have great opportunities ahead to help our clients advance the transformation of their business while also remaining the global leader in the trusted stewardship of technology. Jim will be a great partner in the next step of this journey,” he added.
“I am truly honored to be elected as IBM’s President,” said Whitehurst.
“I look forward to working with Arvind, and with IBMers and Red Hatters alike, to continue to bring together the best of our companies and cultures. I’ve had the opportunity to interact with IBMers across the company over the past few months, and I have been so impressed with the talented and dedicated team we have. When I first joined, I said that I believe we have the opportunity to be the defining technology company of the twenty-first century. After working with our clients, IBMers and Red Hatters over the past months, I am even more convinced of that opportunity today,” he added.
Krishna, 57, is IBM Senior Vice President for Cloud and Cognitive Software, where he leads the IBM business unit that provides the cloud and data platform on which IBM’s clients build the future. His current responsibilities also include the IBM Cloud, IBM Security and Cognitive Applications business, and IBM Research.
Previously, he was general manager of IBM’s Systems and Technology Group’s development and manufacturing organization. Prior to that he built and led many of IBM’s data-related businesses.
He has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and a PhD. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined IBM in 1990.
Whitehurst, 52, is IBM Senior Vice President and CEO of Red Hat, which was acquired by IBM in 2019. He has been an avid advocate for open software as a catalyst for business innovation. During his tenure at Red Hat, revenue grew over eight times and market capitalization by more than 10 times.
He joined Red Hat from Delta Airlines, where he drove significant international expansion and as Chief Operating Officer oversaw all aspects of airline operations. Prior to that he was a partner at The Boston Consulting Group.
Whitehurst earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Economics from Rice University, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel, India’s leading communications solutions provider, today announced the appointment of Naval Seth as the Head of Investor Relations. In this role, Naval will spearhead Airtel’s representation amongst investors, lenders, equity partners, & financial institutions and will report to Soumen Ray, Chief Financial Officer.
Welcoming Naval to the role, Soumen Ray, Chief Financial Officer, Bharti Airtel said: “We are delighted to have Naval with us. His deep relationships with the investment community, strong subject knowledge in Equity Research and Capital Markets will add immense value to the company as we steer ahead in our growth journey. I wish Naval the very best”
Naval joins Airtel from Emkay Global Financial Services Limited where he was Deputy Head of Research. Prior to that, he had worked with ICICI Securities Limited. Naval brings with him over 14 years of experience in Equity Research and Capital Markets. He has a deep research experience across both B2B and B2C facing businesses along with a trusted relationship with the investment community.
Over the years, Naval has been recognized for in-depth and differentiated research across the sectors- Telecom, Media and Consumer Discretionary. He has also been consistently voted by institutional investors and also ranked in Asia Money polls.
NEW DELHI: Taiwanese tech giant – ASUS, today, announced the appointment of Tribhuwan Joshi as Lead – Corporate Communications, PR and CSR, Consumer and ROG PC Business, ASUS India. He will oversee communications and brand reputation practice for ASUS’ consumer, lifestyle, and gaming device segments in the Indian market.
Commenting on the appointment, Paramjeet Singh Mehta, Marketing Head Consumer PC & Gaming, Systems Group at Asus India, said “As we continue to invest in talent, we are focused on identifying and providing opportunities to people where they can have the greatest impact on our business. Tribhuwan is a welcome addition to our team. His rich experience and in-depth understanding will help us in elevating the amazing work that we have been doing across the country.”
Tribhuwan will be driving Integrated Communications Strategy, Reputation Management, Brand Communications CSR Initiatives, Influencer & KOL Management for corporate & consumer campaigns, and drive market-specific campaigns for ASUS India. He has over 15 years of cross-functional experience across corporate and agencies. He has looked after communications strategy for some renowned organizations including Fujifilm India, HTC India, Panasonic India, Anchor by Panasonic, MSL Group India, and Team Orange PR.
On the announcement, Tribhuwan Joshi, Head – Corporate communications, PR and CSR, Consumer and ROG PC Business, ASUS India said, “It has been an absolute delight to have been associated with a robust brand like ASUS, which has been one of the leaders in the technology space. I am thrilled and ecstatic to embark upon this new journey and responsibility. I keenly look forward to working with the leadership team in strengthening the brand and its communications approach, while being devoted to exploring the best for the company’s growth.”
NEW YORK: Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-American technology executive, is helping out Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk as he revamps the social media giant following its acquisition by the billionaire entrepreneur.
Krishnan is a general partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Now that the word is out: I’m helping out @elonmusk with Twitter temporarily with some other great people. I (and a16z) believe this is a hugely important company and can have a great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen, Krishnan tweeted.
Krishnan added that he is still very much in my day job at @a16zcrypto. If you’re a crypto founder, you know how to find me!.
According to his profile on Andreessen Horowitz’s website, Krishnan invests in early-stage consumer startups and serves on the boards of companies Bitski, Hopin, and Polywork.
Prior to joining a16z, Chennai-born Krishnan held numerous senior product roles and most recently, he led core consumer teams at Twitter where he was responsible for products including the home timeline, new user experience, search, discovery, and audience growth, his profile said.
Previously, he created and oversaw various mobile ad products for Snap and Facebook, including Snap’s Direct Response ads business and the Facebook Audience Network, one of the largest networks in display advertising, his profile said. Krishnan started his career at Microsoft where he touched numerous projects related to Windows Azure.
Author of “Programming Windows Azure” published by O’Reilly, he also co-hosts with his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy The Good Time Show’ on Clubhouse, a nightly show through which they interview innovators around tech and culture.
He is an alumnus of SRM Engineering College, Anna University where he did his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Information Technology, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Last week, Musk completed the USD 44 billion acquisition of Twitter and ousted chief executive Parag Agrawal, legal executive Vijaya Gadde, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett.
Musk, according to reports, plans to rethink the company’s content moderation policies and permanent bans for users who previously violated the platform’s policies, including former President Donald Trump, although he said over the weekend that no major decisions have been made yet. He also is reported to be planning large layoffs at the company.
Musk has said the process of gaining a prestigious “blue tick” will be revised. Reports said the firm could start charging USD 20 per month to be verified. Many of Twitter’s most prominent verified users said they would leave if it tried to implement the plan.
Stephen King, an American author, tweeted: “USD 20 a month to keep my blue check? F that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.
Hours later, Musk replied to King: We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about USD 8?
A blue tick is currently free and a way of signalling an account is authentic. While there has been no official confirmation of the plan, on Monday Musk appeared to acknowledge the speculation in a new tweet which said: “On no, all our diabolical plans have been revealed!!”
In a separate development, Musk has denied a New York Times report that he plans to lay off Twitter workers before the start of next month to avoid having to make payouts.
The New York Times reported that Musk had ordered major job cuts across Twitter’s workforce.
Citing people with knowledge of the situation, the report said that some managers were being asked to “draw up lists of employees to cut.
The newspaper said the layoffs would take place before November 1, when workers were due to receive grants of shares in the company as a major part of their pay deals. But replying to a Twitter user asking about the report, he said: “This is false.”
The takeover has prompted discussion among Twitter users over what the platform will look like under Musk’s ownership, the BBC said.
Some have voiced concerns that more lenient free speech policies would mean people banned for hate speech or disinformation may be allowed back to the platform.
Source: Press TRust of India
