Innovation and leadership are the lifeblood of organizations striving to stay competitive and relevant. Innovation enhances customer experience, fuels expansion, and ensures long-term success. Leadership development supports and nurtures creativity, which is the cornerstone of innovation. Here are the top leadership appointments in 2024.

MPOWER Financing Appoints Jatin Rajput as Chief Financial Officer

Jatin Rajput has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of MPOWER Financing. After serving as an MPOWER board member since 2020, Rajput has now joined the CFO team. He's a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in shaping the direction, merging companies, and making money for both established global firms and those just starting up. A Chartered Accountant from India, Rajput holds an MBA from INSEAD and is a strategic advisor to several growth companies. 

Rajput served as CFO of Deskera, a B2B SaaS platform, and co-founded Ad-In Ventures, which invests in and counsels fintech companies in the US and Asia. He also spent a decade as a managing director at Deutsche Bank, overseeing mergers and acquisitions, strategy, and execution for the Americas and Asia Pacific regions. He began his career with Arthur Andersen, followed by management consulting with Marakon Associates in London. He also served on a World Bank project in Afghanistan. As MPOWER expands globally, his deep experience in international financial services, technology, and impact investing will be a vital asset. 

Vipin Gairola is Genpact’s New Global Operating Officer

Vipin is the new head of Genpact's global operations, client service delivery across operations, and digital and technology services. His leadership responsibilities include driving continuous improvement and flexibility, boosting effectiveness in the firm's expanding operations, and maximizing data, artificial intelligence, and technological advancements. Vipin is a mechanical engineering graduate from the Delhi College of Engineering and an MBA in manufacturing management from the SPJIMR College in Mumbai.

Over the past 26 years, Vipin has worked in a variety of capacities, including customer service, account management, marketing, transition, and solution creation, serving large organizations with clients across sectors and industries, establishing himself as a leader with exceptional business acumen and creative thinking. Vipin is passionate about workplace gender diversity and building a workforce of the future with a good mix of AI and automation skills and enriched jobs for humans. 

Rupyy Appoints Vineet Tripathi as Chief Business Officer

Vineet Tripathi has been appointed as the chief business officer of the end fintech platform Rupyy. Tripathi will be in charge of overseeing the company's expansion and growth plans. Vineet is a seasoned financial specialist with more than two decades of work experience in the financial sector for banks, insurance firms, and non-bank financial institutions. Before joining Rupyy, he served as the Chief Business Officer at Poonawalla and held leadership positions at Bandhan Bank, Tata Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, GE Money, and Birla Sun Life Insurance. He's worked in India in a variety of capacities and oversaw the establishment of numerous business units focusing on both secured and unsecured lending.

Snowflake Appoints IIT Alumnus Sridhar Ramaswamy as CEO

Sridhar Ramaswamy has been elevated to the position of chief executive officer and member of the board of directors of data cloud company Snowflake. He was senior vice president of artificial intelligence at Snowflake and an alumnus of IIT Madras. Neeva, a competitor to Google Search in 2019, was built by him before being bought by Snowflake in 2023.

Orkla India Appoints Murali S as CEO of Eastern

Orkla India, a subsidiary of Norwegian industrial investment firm Orkla ASA, has appointed Murali S as the chief executive officer of Eastern, a leading player in Kerala's pure spices and masala market. Murali's career spans more than three decades in the realms of electronic communication and consumer goods.

Murali has previously served in various leadership roles at companies such as Blow Plast and Vodafone Idea, where he served as operations director and senior vice president.

 

Tata Digital Appoints Naveen Tahilyani as CEO

In a significant top-deck change, Tata Digital has appointed Naveen Tahilyani as chief executive officer and managing director of the Tata group's e-commerce unit, replacing Pratik Pal. Tahilyani was previously the CEO and MD of Tata AIA Life Insurance. Pal, who launched the much-hyped super app Tata Neu, will continue at Tata Digital to ensure continuity, according to a company statement. Tata Digital chairman N Chandrasekaran was dissatisfied with the overall state of the entity that houses the Tata Neu super app, according to people familiar with the matter, hence the appointment of Tahilyani.

Manish Jain, Country Managing Director, India, Experian

Manish Jain, who has more than two and a half decades of experience in the financial services and technology sectors, is the former co-founder and CEO of Excelrate. He also held leadership roles in the credit bureau industry for over 12 years. Manish is expected to oversee Experian's strategic initiatives, propel company expansion, and forge lasting connections with customers and other stakeholders in India.

Suzlon Energy Appoints Sairam Prasad as SGSL CEO

Suzlon Energy Ltd has appointed Sairam Prasad as the chief executive officer of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Suzlon Global Services Limited. The Pune-based Suzlon Group is a global leader in renewable energy solutions, with more than 20 gigawatts of wind energy capacity installed in 17 nations.

PhonePe Appoints Ritesh Pai as CEO of International Payments Business

PhonePe, the digital payments major, has appointed former Yes Bank chief digital officer Ritesh Pai as CEO of its international payments business. Pai was previously the chief digital officer of Yes Bank. He was based in Dubai and worked for cross-border payments firm Terrapay. Pai was in charge of launching and implementing TerraPay's global payment offerings. The appointment follows the naming of chief executives for each of PhonePe's various business segments in November last year. 

Birlasoft Appoints Manjunath Kygonahally as CEO for RoW Region

The IT services company Birlasoft, a member of the diverse CK Birla Group, has appointed Manjunath Kygonahally as chief executive officer for the rest of the world region. He will operate based in the UK and handle business and strategic growth initiatives in the RoW region, including all regions outside of the Americas.

Manju was in charge of the communications, media, and entertainment division for Cognizant's global expansion markets based out of London. He conceptualized and spearheaded numerous strategic programs across business units during his 25-year tenure.