Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy confirms SVP exits in communication to staff

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the group chief executive of ecommerce major Flipkart in an internal communication informed staff about the exit of four senior vice presidents (SVPs) from the firm. ET had first reported on Tuesday about the senior-level exits at the e-commerce major.

Travel booking website Cleartrip’s head Ayyappan R, marketplace and categories leader Amitesh Jha, fintech and payments head Dheeraj A, and growth and retention head Bharath Ram are exiting the firm, Krishnamurthy confirmed to employees.

“Our approach to enabling wealth creation and career planning… has given several individuals the opportunity to pursue the next phase of their careers… Amitesh, Ayyappan, Bharath, and Dheeraj are part of this talented set of visionary leaders who have chosen to embark on journeys beyond Flipkart,” Krishnamurthy said in the communication.


Jha joined Flipkart in 2010 while Ayyappan has been with the etailer since 2013, and the two are among executives with the longest tenures at the Bengaluru-based firm. The changes are also happening at the top level as the firm is working to increase agility and efficiency, people in the know had told ET when discussing the exits.

“As we have done before, we will continue looking for ways to partner with these leaders in the future through the businesses they create,” Krishnamurthy added in the internal letter.

The top-level shuffle extends beyond the exits reported by ET and confirmed by Krishnamurthy. Sandeep Karwa, a vice president who was heading the fashion vertical, has moved to the ad vertical, while Flipkart Fashion is now headed by Arief Mohamad.

The top-deck exits come at a time when Flipkart has undertaken performance-based trimming across all verticals, including vice presidents in engineering and product, people familiar with the matter said. Between 5-7% of the company’s employees will be impacted by the layoffs, as ET first reported on January 8.

The SVP cohort, which currently comprises about 20 executives, has seen continuous churn over the past year or so with almost 30% of leaders exiting for diverse reasons, people aware of the happenings had told ET.