Amid top-level exits, IBM readies to look for India MD

BENGALURU: Three of IBM India's top executives--Anuj Jain, Sanjiv Agarwal and Jeby Cherian--have quit even as the company considers Ashish Kumar, Nipun Mehrotra and Rajesh Nambiar among internal contenders for the top job in the country.

Those in the race for the top post are all company veterans, but with different specialisations.

While Kumar is considered as the top services leader responsible for getting big customers such as Bharti Airtel, Mehrotra is vice president for strategy. Kumar also leads IBM's cloud business in the region. Nambiar, a Tata Consultancy Services veteran, has spent eight years at IBM.

“Such (executive movement) decisions at IBM are usually quick. In this case, it looks more likely that IBM will consider an insider to lead after the current MD moves,” said a person familiar with the discussions. India Managing Director Vanitha Narayanan is expected to relocate back to the US by early next year.

The three executives who have each spending about a decade at the company.

While Agarwal had led IBM's complex deal pricing and negotiations across Asia Pacific, Jain was a vice president and partner. Cherian, who quit to join the Isha Foundation, led IBM's services division for India and South Asia.

An IBM India spokeswoman didn’t responded to an email, sent by ET on Friday quit are IBM India veterans.