Salesforce announced it has hired Arundhati Bhattacharya, the former State Bank of India chairperson to head its India operations. Bhattacharya will take over as the Chairman and CEO of Salesforce India, effective April 20. She will report to Ulrik Nehammer, General Manager APAC.
“India is an important growth market for Salesforce and a world-class innovation and talent hub and Arundhati’s leadership will guide our next phase of growth, customer success and investment in the region,” said Gavin Patterson, President and CEO, Salesforce International.
“Salesforce is a company with an impressive track record in supporting the digital transformation of its customers with world class technology and there is an incredible opportunity for future growth in India,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya.
Prior to this, Bhattacharya had led India’s largest public sector bank during a crucial four year period when other public sector banks were facing challenges with loans. She also stepped up investments in technology, hiring a chief technology officer from global rival Barclays, to prepare SBI to compete with smaller and nimble tech focused banks and fintech firms. Apart from this, Bhattacharya is also an independent director on the board of Wipro.
India’s cloud application services market, the segment that Salesforce operates, is expected to grow by 21% to over $1.4 billion in 2020, according to a November report by technology researcher Gartner.
Salesforce and its ecosystem of customers and partners in India is expected to create over $67 billion in business revenues and 548,400 new direct jobs by 2024, according to research by IDC.
