New Delhi, Jan. 23 -- The week (Jan 19-23) saw a series of senior leadership appointments and promotions across global and India-focused technology, cloud, AI, and digital infrastructure firms, signalling a sharper focus on AI security, enterprise scale, and platform-led growth. From Zscaler and Pocket FM to Airbus and Datadog, these moves underline how companies are strengthening leadership benches to support next-phase transformation and regional expansion. Here's a roundup:
Zscaler Appoints Swamy Kocherlakota to Lead Agentic AI Security Engineering
Cloud security firm Zscaler has appointed Dr Swamy Kocherlakota as Executive Vice President of Agentic AI Security Engineering, effective January 2026, as enterprises increasingly deploy autonomous, agent-driven AI systems. In this newly created role, Kocherlakota will define how Zscaler secures AI agents that function both as users and applications within its Zero Trust architecture. The focus will be on platform- and architecture-level controls rather than standalone tools, addressing security gaps created by autonomous workflows. Kocherlakota joins from S&P Global, where he most recently served as EVP and Chief Digital Solutions Officer, with prior tenure as Global CIO. (Read more)
Wipro Enterprises Names Sandeep K. Vasudevan as Head of IT Infrastructure
Wipro Enterprises Private Limited has appointed Sandeep K. Vasudevan as Head of IT Infrastructure, reinforcing its focus on scalable, secure, and resilient technology foundations. Vasudevan will lead the company's IT infrastructure strategy, overseeing modernisation initiatives that support business growth across Wipro Enterprises' diversified portfolio. His mandate includes improving operational resilience, strengthening security posture, and enabling long-term digital transformation. Vasudevan brings over two decades of experience in infrastructure leadership, having held senior roles at Livspace, PharmEasy, and Medlife.com. His appointment underscores Wipro Enterprises' emphasis on robust enterprise-grade technology enablement. (Read more)
Pocket FM Appoints Former Meta AI Researcher Vasu Sharma as Head of AI
Audio storytelling platform Pocket FM has appointed Vasu Sharma, formerly of Meta AI (FAIR), as Head of Artificial Intelligence to deepen its AI-led content production and localisation capabilities. Reporting to co-founder Prateek Dixit, Sharma will lead AI research and applied systems across storytelling, production workflows, and language adaptation. His remit includes building fiction-focused language models and scaling the company's AI CoPilot for creators. At Meta, Sharma worked on large-scale multimodal and language models, including Llama and CM3Leon. He previously held roles at Amazon Lab126 and Citadel, and has published extensively in top AI conferences. (Read more)
Ankush Raina Promoted to Country Head & President - Enterprise Sales at NxtGen
NxtGen Cloud Technologies has promoted Ankush Raina to Country Head & President - Enterprise Sales, marking a key milestone in his decade-long tenure with the company. In his expanded role, Raina will oversee enterprise sales strategy, P&L ownership, and go-to-market execution across India, driving growth across NxtGen's cloud, data centre, and infrastructure services portfolio. Previously, he led regional expansion as Senior Vice President and Business Head for South India. Raina brings deep experience from roles at CtrlS Datacenters, Tata Communications, and Tulip Telecom, strengthening NxtGen's enterprise-focused growth agenda.
Viral Shah Joins Iron Mountain as Director, Finance - Data Centre
Iron Mountain has appointed Viral Shah as Director, Finance - Data Centre, bolstering financial leadership as the company expands its data centre footprint in India. Shah will oversee financial strategy, planning, and governance for the data centre business, with a focus on capital efficiency and scalable growth. He brings over 18 years of experience across digital infrastructure and technology-led organisations. Prior to Iron Mountain, Shah served as Head of Finance at Yotta Data Services and held senior roles at Netmagic Solutions (NTT Group), Turtlemint, and D-Link India. His appointment strengthens Iron Mountain's financial rigor in a capital-intensive sector.
Datadog Promotes Namit D'Cruz as RVP - Enterprise, India & SAARC
Datadog has promoted Namit D'Cruz to Regional Vice President - Enterprise for India and SAARC, as it scales its enterprise business across the region. In this role, D'Cruz will drive large-account engagement, regional expansion, and enterprise growth strategy, building on strong momentum in India. Since joining Datadog, he has played a key role in establishing its India enterprise segment. Prior to this, D'Cruz spent over a decade at Microsoft, leading strategic cloud engagements, and earlier held leadership roles at Oracle. The promotion reflects Datadog's long-term commitment to the region.
Firoz Ansari Joins Airbus as Head of Digital Infrastructure & Platforms
Airbus has appointed Firoz Ansari as Head of Digital Infrastructure & Platforms, strengthening its global digital leadership. In this role, Ansari will lead enterprise-wide infrastructure and platform strategy, spanning hybrid cloud, data centres, networks, digital workplace, and secure-by-design architectures. He joins from Enphase Energy, where he led large-scale global infrastructure transformation initiatives. Earlier, Ansari held leadership roles at Canon India, IBM, and Wipro. At Airbus, he is expected to play a critical role in enabling secure, resilient, and scalable digital platforms supporting mission-critical global operations.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from TechCircle.