Patni loses two key executives after iGate deal

BANGALORE: Two of Patni’s key executives, Ajay Chamania and Deepak Khosla, who head the company’s growing business units of product engineering services and the India market respectively, have resigned, people with direct knowledge of the developments said.

Patni, which was acquired by smaller rival iGate earlier this year, is currently in the process of integrating different business units and overlapping functions. Patni’s product engineering practice is a key vertical accounting for over 15% of the company’s annual revenue and counts several large storage companies like EMC among clients.

This unit has also been seen as a core differentiator for Patni and Chamania, an old Patni hand who has been responsible for building this. Experts say this development could have some impact on Patni’s clients in this unit in the months to come.

“Given Ajay’s relationship with customers, if he were to launch on his own he could definitely attract business from Patni customers,” one of the persons with direct knowledge of the development told ET on condition of anonymity.

The product engineering practice caters to storage, automotives, medical devices, industrial automation, consumer electronics and ISV product domains. Khosla served as president, Saarc region at Patni and was responsible for the development and growth of the region with a keen focus on the India market.

Patni has been bullish on India’s growth and with plans to strengthen its domestic presence in telecom, insurance, manufacturing and e-governance. Both Chamania and Khosla were a part of the company’s core executive leadership team.

A spokesperson at iGate said the company could not comment on this matter. Nasdaq-listed iGate announced the $1.2-billion acquisition of Patni Computer Systems in January.