2024 Year in Review | who’s in, who’s out: the biggest executive moves in Indian tech & startup sector

More than a dozen chief executives across new-age technology startups moved into new roles in 2024 in the top-level churn triggered by business restructuring, initial public offering (IPO) plans, and a broader push for profitability across companies.

Some of the most notable movements included Amitesh Jha, who led marketplace and categories at Flipkart moved to Swiggy Instamart as its CEO, replacing cofounder Phani Kishan Addepalli. Addepalli, who previously led Swiggy’s quick commerce arm, now oversees the company’s central growth team, including initiatives such as the subscription service Swiggy One. Jha, who had a 14-year stint with Flipkart, was a part of a string of top leaders to have exited the Walmart-owned etailer this year.

Others like travel booking website Cleartrip’s head Ayyappan R, Flipkart’s fintech and payments head Dheeraj A, and Bharath Ram, who spearheaded growth and retention at the web retailer, also left earlier this year, as ET reported on February 20.

In the consumer sector, the WestBridge Capital-backed specialty coffee chain Third Wave Coffee appointed Rajat Luthra, former head of KFC India and Nepal, as its CEO, replacing founder CEO Sushant Goel.

Troubled ecommerce firm DealShare saw the departure of its third founder Sourjyendu Medda this year after Vineet Rao and Sankar Bora quit last year. DealShare elevated Kamaldeep Singh as its CEO. Meanwhile, the ecommerce arm of the Tata Group, Tata Digital, named Naveen Tahilyani as its CEO and MD, replacing Pratik Pal.

"We had more top-level executive movements in 2024 compared to 2023. Also, external CEO hiring has been more in 2024 compared to 2023. There is a growth-oriented thinking that is coming out from companies," Anshuman Das, CEO of Longhouse Consulting, told ET.

The operating metrics have changed, and companies have realised that money is available for more meaningful, profitable growth, with CEOs being brought in to drive this fresh thinking, Das added.

Fintech & edtech reshuffle

The fintech sector, grappling with regulatory challenges, also saw executive exits and appointments. Rakesh Singh, CEO of broking services at PayU-backed wealthtech startup Fisdom, took over as CEO of Paytm Money, succeeding Varun Sridhar. Meanwhile, Bhavesh Gupta, former president and COO of Paytm, joined consultancy firm Operating Mynds Consultancy. Digital payments giant PhonePe appointed Ritesh Pai, former chief digital officer of Yes Bank, as CEO of its international business. Before this, Pai served as the president of products and solutions at cross-border payments firm Terrapay.

Among the biggest leadership changes in the embattled edtech sector was when Arjun Mohan stepped down as CEO of Byju’s India just six months into the role, prompting founder Byju Raveendran to take over the daily operations. Himanshu Bajaj, former CEO of Byju’s tuition centre division, joined consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal as co-country head and managing director. Ananya Tripathi, ex-CEO of WhiteHat Jr, took on the role of managing director at Brookfield Asset Management. Additionally, Prathyusha Agarwal, former chief business officer at Byju’s, became the business head of Shopsy, Flipkart’s low-cost ecommerce platform competing with Meesho and Amazon Bazaar.