Ravi Venkatesan, chairman and corporate vice president of Microsoft in India, has resigned from the company to pursue opportunities outside.
He is the third senior executive to quit the company in the past year. Rajan Anandan, managing director, left in August last year. This was followed by the resignation of Srini Koppolu, corporate vice president and MD of the Microsoft India development centre.
Company sources say Venkatesan’s intention to leave became evident last month when he did not go to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, US, to present the India business review. In his absence, Sanket Akerkar, the sales & marketing head, represented the Indian subsidiary at the annual business review.
Microsoft has not announced a successor for Venkatesan. It said he’d work with Microsoft International’s president, Jean-Philippe Courtois, to ensure a smooth transition with his successor. It is believed Venkatesan might be planning to join Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, which is in the process of launching its mobile wireless network by the end of this year. However, he could not be reached for comments on this. It is reliably learnt that Venkatesan had a 10-minute call with Microsoft employees today, where he stated the decision to quit was personal. He also said he wanted to take a break for few months to complete his book, Winning in India, which talks about how a handful of multinational companies have succeeded in this country.
“The best part of these seven years has been the opportunity to work with some of the brightest and most passionate people in the world and iconic leaders like Bill Gates. I look back at the last seven years with a lot of pride and satisfaction,” Venkatesan said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the company said Sanket Akerkar will continue to lead overall sales, marketing and services as the sales & marketing head for India, and Hemant Sachdev will continue to lead the consumer and online business.
Microsoft employs 5,300 employees in India, located in its two campuses at Hyderabad and Bangalore, and 13 offices.