BENGALURU: In a surprising development, IBM’s Sandip Patel has replaced Karan Bajwa as managing director of its India & South Asia (ISA) operations. Bajwa will pursue opportunities outside of IBM, the company said. The sudden change of guard puts the spotlight on IBM’s performance in India as digital changes the course of companies including IBM.
As managing director of IBM in ISA, Patel will be responsible for all strategic and operational matters related to IBM’s sales, marketing, services and delivery operations in the region, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Additionally, he will play a critical role in enabling India’s capabilities across IBM’s global missions, global centers of excellence, research and innovation labs.
Most recently, Patel was based in Boston, Massachusetts where he was IBM’s global general manager for the Insurance industry and was responsible for IBM’s business across all brands in this market segment. His extensive expertise in key industries, including financial services, insurance and healthcare, coupled with his global leadership experience will bring great value to IBM’s clients and business in the region.
Patel was previously the president of Aetna international where he had full P&L responsibility for their international business. He has served as partner in various leadership roles at IBM, PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Coopers & Lybrand, and early in his career was a practicing Chartered Accountant in India.
In his second stint with IBM, Bajwa led the ISA business during a period of great change in the marketplace. He was responsible for growing IBM’s mid-market business, enabling clients’ digital transformation and journey to cloud.
