The Indian startup ecosystem has produced excellent IT talent for many years. From developing consumer apps to developing robust B2B commercial software products employing cutting-edge technology, Indian technologists have consistently provided additional comfort to users. While India has the world’s largest reservoir of technical talent, their work can now be seen all over the world, with nearly all of the major US technology corporations employing technology pioneers of Indian heritage. Here is a list of CTO’s who have created an impact in their field.
Geena Malhotra
Spearheading the global manufacturing, supply chain and respiratory discovery engine of a company which adopts an innovation-driven and patient-centric approach to R&D is a huge responsibility and honour. It’s been over three decades now since she became part of the Cipla family – leading the manufacturing transformation agenda and launching innovative products in the respiratory therapy in line with Cipla’s global lung leadership aspirations. She believes that innovation is staying relevant and true to the promise of delivering the future. As she provides technical leadership to cross-disciplinary teams, her utmost focus is to ensure that synergies between manufacturing and SCM are leveraged to further the business agenda and ensure smooth and consistent supply of quality products to our customers and easing their distress.
Sammeer Saurabbh
Around 25 years of experience in Information Technology and capital market (DP, Custody, Equities and Derivatives markets, Portfolio Management System, Mutual Fund, core and retail Banking, Credit Cards/Channels etc). Technology professional with the proven ability to deliver impetus to business and operations via efficient deployment of Information Technology. His specialties are People Management, Technology alignment with Business Plan, Capital Market, Preparation and Implementation of Policies and Procedures, Information Security, Vendor Management, Technical Architecture, Project Management.
Rafee Tarafdar
Rafee is a SVP and Unit Technology Officer (CTO) at Infosys. He leads the Strategic Technology Group within Infosys that is incubating and scaling new architecture & technology capabilities, new software engineering capabilities, new platforms, services and innovations. Rafee has played diverse roles from setting up successful architecture & technology teams globally, providing advisory services to senior executives of fortune 500 organizations and playing the role of CTO & Enterprise architect for large transformation programs. Prior to Infosys he used to architect, design and develop products and platforms for Virtusa, Misys and Cadem.
Gunjan Patidar
Gunjan Patidar, Chief Technology Officer of Zomato, started as an intern at the company, and went on to build the foodtech unicorn’s core tech systems. Gunjan handled the tech and websites for an entrepreneurship development cell run by IIT-Delhi student bodies. It was during this time, around 2007, that they did a business plan competition where Bain & Co was a sponsor. Zomato CTO Gunjan Patidar makes it a point to code every day. The most important thing for any techie is to be in touch with the times and understand what is happening around you. Find time to understand the business, product, what users want, and how they are impacted is his belief.
Kirti Patil
She has over two decades of experience spanning manufacturing and BFSI organizations. She started her career in Bayer India and going on to International Rectifier where she was responsible for implementation of systems in the APAC region. Later she re-joined Bayer and was responsible for the technology integration and standardization across 12 group companies in India. As Senior Executive Vice President – IT and CTO at Kotak Life Insurance, she oversees all strategic technology and digital initiatives and is responsible for ensuring that the company’s technology strategy is aligned with its current and future business needs to give the organization a competitive edge.
Randeep Sekhon
He is passionate about transforming the position of Mobile operators from access providers to digital lifestyle providers delivering value to its customers via customer first and digital first strategy. He has a unique mix of business leadership experience and deep technology understanding to drive business success and turnaround. His experiences in technology leadership roles have enabled him to leverage technology and digital first approach for enterprise value generation.
Raman C V
Product design & product development in passenger car industry. Headed various product development teams. Project management from concept to SOP. Experience in vendor development & supply chain management including supplier upgradation through joint venture & technical collaborations. His specialties are Product design & development. Vendor development & supply chain management.
Rajesh Chavan
As a Chief Technology Officer– Rajesh is accountable for all the technology directions, Engineering and Deployment of Business initiatives of AEL at DMart. Rajesh directly owns all the aspects like strategic roadmap, team ramp-ups, vendor, alliance and partner management, Solution Designs, Architecture, Engineering and Quality Assurance of below focus areas. Digital Channels – Revamp of the Mobile Apps and responsive Retail Commerce Experience, decoupled with power of IBM WCS Commerce Engine. Enterprise Platform – Development and rollouts of Retail Enterprise Platform for enabling Warehouse Operations and Last Mile Delivery. Infrastructure – All the physical architecture and infrastructure for running Digital and Enterprise platforms in-house. SAP – Development and enhancements of SAP, connecting to Digital channels and DMarReady pick-up points and smaller store formats.
Anurag Vohra
Executive leader with over 22 years of experience with defining, developing and releasing software efficiently with quality. Passion and experience of building up teams from scratch. Spent initial 10 years primarily as architect in 3 different start-ups, then 7 years with Microsoft as product manager. Last 5 years as Head of Product and Technology. Built and led a multi-disciplinary team of ~250 people with ~100 Developers, ~100 QA, Program Managers, Product managers, and support. His specialties areas are Startup establishment, Chief Enterprise Architect, Site Head, Product development, Mobile App Development, AI/ML team build, ODC Management, Platform development, Digital Transformation. Technology – Healthcare Tech, Insure Tech, VoIP, Tele-Health, Video Conference, TCP/IP, Software Security, Mobility, Cloud, iOS and Android, Machine Learning, IoT.
Rahul Mulay
Heading the Information technology department for Adani Capital which is an NBFC and the Adani group’s latest venture into financial services. Adani Capital is in the business of helping Entrepreneurs, Businessmen, Farmers, Dealers and Suppliers economic growth by providing customised lending solutions in the areas of Supply Chain finance, Farm equipments, Commercial Vehicles ,Entrepreneur loans. A multi-faceted professional with close to 18 years of experience and consistent achievement in a lead capacity primarily accountable for complete IT project delivery, business application implementations and IT operations. Demonstrated capabilities in conceptualization, design and implementation of Business IT enterprise applications in Retail banking, Private Banking and Retail Broking domain within budget and controlled costs. Expertise in identification and evaluation of IT software solutions. Adept at working in high pressure environments with strict deadlines.
