Sarvam names Google Cloud India head Sashikumar Sreedharan as president & chief business officer

Indian AI startup Sarvam AI on Monday said that it has appointed former Google Cloud India managing director Sashikumar as its president and chief business officer (CBO).

Sashikumar will additionally join Sarvam's board of directors. He will lead the company's business across enterprises and government, while expanding its engagement with digital-native companies, developers and partners.

"He will also be responsible for Marketing, Finance, Forward Deployed Engineering, Service Delivery and Commercial Operations functions for the company," the company said in a blog post announcing the appointment.


Sashikumar brings over three decades of experience in the technology industry and previously led Microsoft India's enterprise business as managing director for more than five years.

The appointment comes as Sarvam looks to expand its customer base and operations. The company said that more than 100 enterprises and government institutions are currently building with its full-stack AI offering.

"The next phase of Sarvam is about advancing our research, developing products loved by people around the world, and building a company that can operate at a much greater scale," it added in the blog post.

The company also reiterated its focus on enterprise-owned AI, where data, models and AI agents remain within an organisation's control.

"India should be a maker of the intelligence the world runs on. For me, joining Sarvam is a commitment to that opportunity. I look forward to working with the team and our customers to build products that become part of how industries and governments operate," Sashikumar said.

Sarvam said it sees a close relationship between frontier AI research and enterprise adoption, with industry requirements driving research and technological breakthroughs creating opportunities for new industries.