Multinational companies opting for Indians when it comes to head positions like CEO, CTO is not a new thing. Several tech giants are already doing this and now retail giant Walmart has appointed IIT Madras alumnus Suresh Kumar as their new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Kumar is replacing longtime Walmart CTO Jeremy King, who left the company in March and will report directly to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.
Education
Talking about his education, Suresh Kumar graduated from IIT Madras in 1987 with a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. After that, he moved abroad to get a Ph.D. in Engineering from Princeton University.
Career
Suresh began his career with IBM and ended up as a Research Staff Member. After working for 7 long years with IBM, he joined Amazon in 1999 as a Software Architect. Soon he became a senior manager and Director of Software Development two years after that. Eventually, he ended up as Amazon’s VP of Worldwide Retail Systems and Retail Services in 2008.
In 2014, he joined Microsoft and spent four years there. After that, he joined Google as the VP and GM of Google Display+ Video ads, Apps and Analytics.
With a resume that clearly shows his brilliance in tech is highlighting that Walmart is also trying to become a big tech player. Walmart, not only wants to beat Amazon in e-commerce but is also making big startup investments like Flipkart in India.
“Walmart is one of the great success stories in how a company evolves over time to serve the changing needs of its customers, and today, it is in the midst of an exciting digital transformation,”
Kumar said after the appointment.
Also Read: Indian CEOs Who Handle Global Tech Giants
Kumar has joins the list of Indians that hold highest posts at global tech giants. Sundar Pichai as the CEO of Google, Satya Nadella as the CEO of Microsoft, Shantanu Narayen as the CEO of Adobe. Among CTOs, Padmashree Warrior was the CTO of Cisco for several years, while Twitter appointed Parag Agrawal as its CTO last year.
