Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Tata Communications appoints new MD & CEO
The GMA Admin
Tata Communications names Ganesh Lakshminarayanan MD & CEO designate, signalling a strategic, AI‑focused leadership transition ahead of April 2026.
Tata Communications has announced a leadership transition that places seasoned technology and enterprise leader Ganesh Lakshminarayanan at the helm as managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) designate, in a move that underscores the company’s ambition to accelerate digital, cloud, and AI‑driven growth globally. The appointment will take effect following the necessary regulatory approvals and ahead of the planned retirement of the current MD and CEO, A. S. Lakshminarayanan, on April 13, 2026, ensuring continuity for customers, partners, and investors.
Strategic leadership transition at Tata Communications
Tata Communications has named Ganesh Lakshminarayanan as managing director and chief executive officer designate, signalling a carefully planned succession process for one of India’s most globally entrenched digital infrastructure providers. The appointment remains subject to statutory and regulatory clearances, but the board has clarified that the transition will be completed ahead of the retirement of current MD and CEO A. S. Lakshminarayanan on April 13, 2026, avoiding any leadership vacuum at a critical phase of industry transformation.
The company’s approach reflects a governance‑led, forward‑looking stance, with the Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) leading a rigorous selection process before recommending Ganesh for the top role. For global marketers and martech leaders tracking ecosystem stability and long‑term partnerships, this structured succession narrative reinforces Tata Communications’ commitment to continuity in its digital connectivity, cloud, collaboration, and customer‑experience offerings.
From a Global Martech Alliance (GMA) perspective, the move aligns with a broader pattern in the martech and digital infrastructure ecosystem: boards increasingly prioritise leaders who blend deep enterprise experience with hands‑on exposure to automation, cloud platforms, and AI‑driven transformation. As brands recalibrate their stacks around data, AI, and experience orchestration, the leadership orientation at core providers such as Tata Communications becomes a meaningful signal for how quickly and confidently marketers can expand into new digital capabilities.
Ganesh Lakshminarayanan’s profile: enterprise, cloud, and AI experience
Ganesh Lakshminarayanan brings over three decades of international management experience spanning multinational corporations, high‑growth B2B start‑ups, and large Indian enterprises, mirroring the hybrid ecosystem in which today’s martech stacks are built and operated. Most recently, he served as managing director and group vice president for ServiceNow India and SAARC, steering the company’s growth across one of the most dynamic regions for digital transformation and workflow automation.
In that role at ServiceNow, Ganesh was responsible for expanding market presence, deepening enterprise relationships, and scaling digital workflow adoption across industries that rely heavily on data, automation, and integrated platforms—areas that sit at the intersection of martech, CX, and operational technology. His prior experience as CEO of Airtel Business in India, and earlier as the head of Airtel’s enterprise business unit, further underlines his ability to operate in complex, high‑volume, B2B environments where connectivity, cloud, and communication services are mission‑critical for brands.
Under his leadership, Airtel’s enterprise unit was recognised with the Chairman’s Award for Best Business Unit in FY23 and delivered sustained growth over a three‑year period, accompanied by gains in market share—performance indicators that matter to marketers seeking long‑term, innovation‑oriented partners. For GMA’s global audience, this track record is particularly relevant because it demonstrates a combination of operational discipline, customer‑centric growth strategy, and the ability to translate technology investments into measurable business outcomes across large enterprise portfolios.
Education, ecosystem roles, and leadership philosophy
Beyond executive positions, Ganesh’s academic foundation and ecosystem engagement point to a leadership style that values both rigorous strategy and collaborative industry building. He holds an MBA with high distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from Guindy Engineering College, Chennai, equipping him with formal grounding in both technology and business management.
He has previously served on the executive council of NASSCOM and on the FICCI council, two influential industry bodies that help shape digital policy, talent development, and innovation agendas in India. Additionally, he is a founding member of Social Venture Partners Bengaluru, reflecting a commitment to social impact and collaborative problem solving beyond corporate mandates. These roles suggest a leader who understands how policy, ecosystem partnerships, and talent pipelines intersect with enterprise technology adoption—key levers for martech maturity at scale.
In his first comments following the announcement, Ganesh expressed gratitude to the board and described Tata Communications as “an institution with such a strong legacy,” while emphasising a focus on strengthening customer‑centric culture, investing in people, and executing strategy with discipline. For marketers and CX leaders, this framing signals continuity around customer‑first decision making, coupled with an execution mindset—critical for large‑scale rollouts of new platforms, networks, and experience‑enabling technologies.
Board perspective: AI, automation, and large‑deal capability
Commenting on the appointment, N. G. Subramaniam, chairman of Tata Communications, highlighted that Ganesh was selected as MD and CEO designate after a “rigorous selection process” led by the NRC, underlining both governance and strategic intent. He underscored Ganesh’s experience with global businesses, automation, AI, digital transformation, enterprise relationships, and large deals as core reasons the board believes he is well aligned with Tata Communications’ strategy and growth momentum.
This emphasis is especially significant for the Global Martech Alliance community, where automation and AI are no longer optional enhancements but foundational capabilities in modern marketing architectures. Tata Communications’ network, edge, cloud, and collaboration offerings increasingly sit under the hood of omnichannel experiences, data‑driven campaigns, and real‑time customer journeys; leadership with deep familiarity in these domains can accelerate innovation cycles for brands that build on its infrastructure.
By explicitly calling out AI, automation, and digital transformation experience, the board signals a clear direction: the next phase of growth at Tata Communications will likely involve deeper orchestration between connectivity, cloud platforms, security, and experience‑layer technologies that marketers and CX professionals use every day. For decision‑makers reviewing vendor portfolios, this kind of strategic clarity from the top can be a strong positive indicator in long‑term partner evaluations, especially for global or multi‑market deployments.
What this means for martech, CX, and digital infrastructure
For the martech and CX ecosystem, Tata Communications’ leadership transition comes at a time when organisations are re‑architecting their stacks to better support AI‑enabled experiences, secure data flows, and real‑time engagement across channels. Ganesh’s background in platforms like ServiceNow—which enable digital workflows and process automation—positions him to bridge infrastructure, operations, and experience design in ways that matter directly to CMOs, CDOs, and CIOs.
Enterprise connectivity, cloud access, and secure data transport are invisible but critical layers for marketing systems, from CDPs and marketing automation platforms to contact centres and AI‑driven personalisation engines. As Tata Communications scales under new leadership, marketers can expect continued focus on enabling reliable, low‑latency, and secure digital environments where advanced martech solutions can operate effectively. This is particularly relevant for global brands that need consistent experience delivery across regions, regulatory regimes, and network conditions.
From a GMA lens, the appointment reinforces three key signals for marketing and martech leaders:
- A deepening convergence between enterprise IT leadership experience and the demands of experience‑led, AI‑powered marketing.
- An industry‑wide recognition that automation, data, and large‑deal transformation programs are now central to competitive differentiation.
- A continued premium on leaders who can operate at the intersection of infrastructure providers, platform ecosystems, and enterprise customer strategy.
Implications for marketers and enterprise buyers
For marketing, digital, and technology leaders evaluating or already working with Tata Communications, the leadership change offers several practical implications. First, the continuity of a planned transition ahead of April 13, 2026, reduces uncertainty and supports long‑term planning for initiatives tied to global connectivity, hybrid work, cloud migration, or experience modernisation.
Second, Ganesh’s background suggests an increased emphasis on:
- Scaling AI and automation across enterprise workflows and customer‑facing operations.
- Deepening collaboration with large enterprise customers through complex, multi‑year, multi‑market deals.
- Embedding customer‑centricity, governance, and performance measurement into digital transformation programs.
For martech decision‑makers, this could translate into richer conversations around how Tata Communications’ infrastructure and services can be aligned with marketing and CX roadmaps—whether that involves improving the reliability of omnichannel platforms, enabling secure and compliant data flows, or supporting distributed teams and contact centres with advanced collaboration tools. It also opens the door for co‑innovation opportunities where connectivity, cloud, security, and martech solutions are designed together rather than in silos.
Next steps in the appointment process
The company has noted that upon securing the necessary regulatory approvals, the board will formally appoint Ganesh Lakshminarayanan as managing director and CEO of Tata Communications. Until then, he will serve in the capacity of MD and CEO designate, enabling a structured handover and collaborative transition with the current leadership team.
The timeline, anchored around the retirement of A. S. Lakshminarayanan on April 13, 2026, suggests that Tata Communications is intentionally building in overlap to ensure operational stability and strategic alignment. For customers, partners, and the broader martech ecosystem, this provides visibility into how and when the leadership baton will pass, which can factor into planning cycles and joint initiatives.
From a Global Martech Alliance standpoint, this type of transparent, well‑sequenced leadership transition reflects evolving best practices in digital‑first enterprises, where leadership continuity is as critical as technological resilience when it comes to supporting complex, always‑on marketing and customer‑experience operations.