Microsoft India president Anant Maheshwari steps down, COO gets elevated

Microsoft India president Anant Maheshwari has stepped down from his position and  will leave the firm to pursue other interests. Maheshwari's exit coincides with a reshuffle among the software company's top executives. 

The development was first reported by The Economic Times on Friday. “We can confirm that Anant has decided to leave Microsoft to pursue a role outside the company. We would like to thank Anant for his many contributions to our business and culture in India and wish him every success in his future endeavors,” a spokesperson for the company told ET.

Meanwhile, Irina Ghose, the company's chief operating officer, has been appointed as managing director of India, and Sashi Sreedharan, the MD, has been promoted to a more senior position. 

Reportedly, the former AWS India head Puneet Chandok is likely to be headed to Microsoft India. Navtej Bal, earlier the director of the public sector at Microsoft India, has also been promoted as the chief operating officer, while Venkat Krishnan, who was heading partnerships, has been elevated as executive director of public sector business.

In terms of educational qualification, Anant Maheshwari has a Master of Science in Economics from Birla Institute of Technology in 1996 and a Master of Business Administration from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 1998. 

Anant was President at Honeywell India, and Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. Anant Maheshwari joined Microsoft in 2016.

Currently, Microsoft is seen as the leader in the enterprise cloud front in India, but it is facing tough competition from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud. The Indian cloud market is growing rapidly, and both AWS and Google Cloud are investing heavily in the country.

According to a report by Gartner, the Indian cloud market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.6% from 2022 to 2027. The report also states that AWS is the market leader in India, followed by Microsoft and Google Cloud.

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