Persistent Systems appoints new CEO

Services firm Persistent Systems has appointed Sandeep Kalra as the chief executive following Christopher O’Connor's departure in August.

O’Connor had brought in Kalra in May 2019 from HARMAN Connected Services (HCS) as president of the technology services unit of the Pune-headquartered company, where he was responsible for setting the strategic direction and managing the sales and delivery functions for the unit.

Persistent Systems on Saturday said quarterly net profit increased by 18.5% year-on-year to Rs 102 crore. Revenue in the second-quarter stood at Rs 1,007 crore, up 13.9% from a year ago. In dollar terms, revenue was higher by 8.4% at $136.09 million.


“We hit significant milestones, for the first time ever, exceeding Rs 1,000 crore in revenue and Rs 100 crore in profit in one quarter. The growth we see across our business is the result of a shared passion through all of Persistent for innovation and helping our clients not just meet but exceed their business expectations,” said Anand Deshpande, chairman of Persistent Systems. “We are looking forward to the next phase of our growth journey as Sandeep Kalra takes over the CEO role.”

Kalra said, “We delivered yet another strong quarter on the back of our strong Q1. Our continued focus on delivery excellence and expanding the value of our expertise across our accounts were the key drivers for this growth…The trust placed in me by the board and Anand to be the CEO inspires me to lead the team to continued new heights and advance Persistent’s growth and leadership in the market.”

At Persistent, Kalra played a key role in defining the strategy and execution plan for the company last year. At HCS, a Samsung company, he was responsible for the global P&L for the digital transformation solutions business unit, leading a team of over 7,000 experts.