Capgemini makes two major changes to senior leadership in India

Global professional services firm Capgemini has reshuffled its senior leadership ranks in India, having elevated current CEO Srinivas Kandula to the position of Group Chairman for its India practice, while the current Chief Operating Officer Ashwin Yardi replaces Kandula as CEO. 

Srinivas Kandula boasts two and a half decades of professional experience in the domain of consulting and professional services. He holds a Master’s degree from Andhra University and a PhD in the domain of management from the prestigious Xaviers Business School in Jamshedpur, India.

Widely regarded as an expert in management, Kandula has authored more than 60 academic papers as well as 8 books on the subject, published in domestic and international publications. Kandula has been affiliated with Capgemini since the firm acquired IGATE in 2015.

Prior to that, he was the Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at IGATE since joining the firm in 2007. He played a key role in IGATE’s absorption into Capgemini, where he assumed the role of Director of Operations in India, before being appointed CEO in 2016. He will now take over as Chairman.

Kandula will be replaced by Ashwin Yardi, a former Senior Consultant at PwC who has been with Capgemini since 2001. Yardi joined as a Senior Manager, and was eventually appointed as the Director and Practice Leader for Oracle at Capgemini. In 2007, he was appointed as Vice President and Offshore Business Unit Leader for Southern Europe.

Since 2016, Yardi has been Chief Operating Officer at Capgemini, a role that he will now vacate to become CEO. Both executives will now work to manage Capgemini’s rapid expansion startegies in India, which involves – among other things, the acquisition of tech startups in India. Earlier this month, the firm declared that it would spend as much as $500 million on digital acquisitions in the near future.

Kandula and Yardi will both report directly to the Group Chief Operating Officer at Capgemini global Thierry Delaporte. According to Delaporte, both appointments are expected to solidify Capgemini’s operations in the Indian market.

“With 100,000 people - half of our workforce - based in India across twelve locations, this leadership reinforcement is a natural step and fully reflects how Capgemini in India’s role is at the very heart of our Group; its scale; and its ambition for growth as a leader in the industry.”