Indian-origin Arvind Krishna to be new IBM CEO

Indian-origin executive Arvind Krishna, 57, is set to take charge of International Business Machines Corp (IBM) from April after its Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty decided to hand over the reins of the company's cloud business.

Krishna, who will become the third Indian to head a US-based multinational company after Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai
Arvind Krishna will become the third Indian to head a US-based multinational company after Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo courtesy: IBM

Krishna is currently IBM Senior Vice President. His responsibilities also include the IBM Cloud, IBM Security and Cognitive Applications business, and IBM Research. Previously, he was general manager of IBM's Systems and Technology Group's development and manufacturing organisation. Prior to that he built and led many of IBM's data-related businesses.

 "I am looking forward to working with IBMers, Red Hatters and clients around the world at this unique time of fast-paced change in the IT industry.  We have great opportunities ahead to help our clients advance the transformation of their business while also remaining the global leader in the trusted stewardship of technology,” Krishna said.

Krishna, who will become the third Indian to head a US-based multinational company after Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the recipient of distinguished alumni awards from IIT-K and the University of Illinois, is the co-author of 15 patents, has been the editor of IEEE and ACM journals, and has published extensively in technical conferences and journals.