Ola hires former BMW Group executive Anand Shah to lead new EV arm

Ola is trying to zoom ahead of rival Uber in EVs, having already rolled out a pilot in Nagpur

Taxi aggregator Ola has hired former BMW Group executive Anand Shah as its head of Strategic Initiatives. He will be leading the electric vehicle (EV) programme and potential experiments in assisted and autonomous driving at the company.  

As senior vice-president, Shah will be a key member of Ola’s leadership team. At BMW, he set up a skunkworks department, developing an autonomous vehicle strategy, evaluating mobility services, and assessing new opportunities. His core competence was looking at opportunities beyond BMW’s core business. An Ola spokesperson confirmed the appointment; Shah, too, updated his LinkedIn profile with “leading strategic new ventures for Ola”,