Board of Directors
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Mr. Rajiv C. Mody | Chairperson, Managing Director
Mr. Rajiv C Mody (DIN 00092037) is the Chairperson, Managing Director and one of the founders of the Company, was born on April 6, 1958. Founded Sasken in 1989 at San Jose along with two other co-founders. The company was set up in the classical tradition of Silicon Valley startups, in a garage in Fremont, California.
He qualified in Electrical Engineering degree from M.S. University, Baroda and Masters Degree in Computer Science from Polytechnic Institute of New York. He worked for Advanced Micro Devices, Seattle Tech Inc., and VLSI Technology Inc. in USA. At VLSI, he was responsible for the design, development and integration of physical design tools for Gate-Array and Standard Cell Design Styles. He has co-authored a patent in the area of physical design and published a paper at the ICCAD conference. He has been with Sasken since inception. He has over 24 years of experience in the technology business.
His Directorship, Chairmanship and Membership of the Committees in other companies (as disclosed) are as below:
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership Centum Electronics Ltd. Director Nomination & Remuneration Committee Member Sasken Finland Oy Finland Director Sasken Inc. USA Director Sasken Communication Technologies Mexico SA De CV Director Taco Sasken Automotive Electronics Limited (Under Liquidation) Director -
Mr. Bharat V. Patel | Independent Director
Mr. Bharat V. Patel (DIN: 00060998) an Independent Director, was born on September 25, 1944, was originally appointed on July 16, 2009 and last re-appointed on July 22, 2011. He holds MA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame, USA and MBA in Marketing from the University of Michigan, USA. He is the former Chairman of Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd., and presently in the Executive Committee or Boards of Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). He has over 40 years of varied experience in the field of advertising, marketing, sales, exports and operations.
His Directorship, Chairmanship and Membership of the Committees in other companies (as disclosed) are as below:
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership The Indian Society of Advertisers Director • Public Policy Committee
• Investment CommitteeChairman
Member -
Mr. Pranabh D. Mody | Director
Mr. Pranabh D. Mody (DIN: 00035505) born on December 9, 1963 was originally appointed on July 29, 1991 and was last re-appointed on July 29, 2020. He is a Non-Executive Director since 2005 and also one of the Promoters of the Company. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy in 1984 from Bombay College of Pharmacy, a pioneer institute of pharmacy in Mumbai. He also obtained his Masters in Business Administration from Oakland University, USA in 1986. He completed an Executive Education Program from Harvard University in USA in 1995.
He has to his credit around 34 years of experience, of which 29 years has been in the pharmaceutical industry with J. B. Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited (JBCPL), Mumbai. He was President and Whole Time Director (Operations) of JBCPL until November 10, 2020 responsible for overall company performance and has significantly contributed to the overall management of the JBCPL’s businesses across different areas, like marketing, sales, and operations. He is a director in Ifiunik Pharmaceuticals Limited and Synit Drugs Private Limited.
His Directorship in other companies (as disclosed) is as below:
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership Eragon Ventures Limited Director Synit Drugs Private Limited Director Atma Leather Private Limited Director SJPM Enterprise Private Limited Director Sasken Finland Oy, Finland Director -
Mr. Raja Ramana Macha | Independent Director
Mr. Raja Ramana Macha (DIN: 06904402) born on August 26, 1966, aged 56 years, was appointed as an Additional Director (Non-Executive Independent Category) at the Board meeting held on January 24, 2023. He is an Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Eaton Corporation – Beachwood, Ohio, USA. He comes with over 35 years of experience in the Automotive, Industrials, Information Technology and Engineering Services sectors, where he had worked with Indian and international companies.
He holds MDBA – Production, systems, and operations from Institute of Management Development & Research (IMDR) where he was a gold medalist and Bachelor’s in Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.
He has held multiple leadership positions in Schneider Electric, Geometric Limited, Detroit & India, Tata Consultancy Services, India, and Tata Motors India.
His expertise in leading digital transformation and innovation in large & complex multinational technology organizations with deep, diverse, and all-round global experience in business and technology domains across automotive, manufacturing, software and hardware products and IT services would be of immense benefit to the Company. He also possesses expertise in “Lean” methodologies and contemporary technologies to deliver breakthrough business and technology results.
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership -
Mr. Som Mittal | Independent Director
Mr. Som Mittal (DIN: 00074842)an Independent Director, born on February 7, 1952, is the past Chairman and President of NASSCOM, India’s premier trade body for the IT and outsourcing industry. His knowledge of the Indian technology ecosystem combined with a nuanced understanding of trade and policy imperatives across key global geographies make him a leading voice in the industry.
Mr. Mittal has held multiple leadership roles at some of the leading technology, engineering, and manufacturing companies in India, such as Wipro, HP, L&T, Denso, and Escorts. He has also held advisory roles in many Government initiatives, including the National e-Governance Plan, National Digital Literacy Mission, and Sector Skills Council. Mr. Mittal has received several recognitions for his contributions to industry in India and abroad and has been honoured as a Fellow of the Computer Society of India.
Mr. Mittal holds a B. Tech from IIT Kanpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. He is closely associated with a number of industry bodies and not-for-profit organizations, including educational institutions, as an expert and mentor and chairs the board of directors at the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People. He is also on Board of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation and Trustee of Axis Bank Foundation.Mr. Mittal holds a B. Tech from IIT Kanpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. He is closely associated with a number of industry bodies and not-for-profit organizations, including educational institutions, as an expert and mentor and chairs the board of directors at the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People. He is also on Board of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation and Trustee of Axis Bank Foundation.
His Directorship in other companies (as disclosed) are as below:
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership Sheela Foam Limited Director • Audit Committee
• Risk Management Committee
• Nomination and Remuneration CommitteeChairman
Member
MemberApollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited Director • Innovation and Quality Committee Member Vodafone India Services Private Limited Director GMR Varalakshmi Foundation Director EXL Service Holdings, Inc. (USA) Director -
Mr. Sunil Sachan | Independent Director
Mr. Sunil Sachan (DIN: 09849981) born on May 27, 1975, aged 47 years, was appointed as Additional Director (Non-Executive Independent Category) at the Board meeting held on January 24, 2023. He is a Managing Director of the Global Mobility (Auto Tech & Auto) Sector at Rothschild & Co, New York, USA. He comes with over 20 years of experience in the Mobility, Industrials and Engineering Services sectors, where he had worked with companies in North America, Europe, and Asia.
He holds an MBA in Finance, Economics and Strategy from Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University and a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.
He has held multiple leadership roles at some of the leading technology, engineering, manufacturing, and consulting companies such as Arconic Corporation and Booz & Company. He also led Nasscom’s landmark study on engineering services that set the public policy framework for the Government of India and has paved the path for the private sector to grow in the engineering services sector.
He has a proven track record of creating accelerated impact through strategic organic and inorganic initiatives, establishing new capabilities, and building high-performance teams. His expertise as a C-suite advisor on Investment Banking, Merger and Acquisitions and other strategic topics with experience in the field of Investment Banking, Strategy Consulting and Corporate P&L experience would add value to the propositions of the Company.
His Directorship in other companies (as disclosed) is as below:
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership Rothschild & Co, USA Managing Director -
Mr. Sunirmal Talukdar | Independent Director
Mr. Sunirmal Talukdar (DIN: 00920608) an Independent Director, was born on December 6, 1951, was co-opted at the Board Meeting held on February 16, 2016 and appointed on July 20, 2016. He is a Chartered Accountant and has over 3 decades of rich & comprehensive experience backed by benchmark competence in the areas of Strategic & Tactical Planning, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Governance, Project Evaluation & Financing, Equity & Debt Syndication, Internal Control/Audit Compliance, Treasury & Risk Management, Public Reporting & Regulatory Compliance, IT Integration with Business, Budgeting & MIS, Direct, Indirect & International Taxation, Business Process Re-engineering, Secretarial / Legal Affairs, Organisational Restructuring, etc. He retired as Group Executive President and Chief Financial Officer of M/s. Hindalco Industries Ltd. in 2012.
His Directorship, Chairmanship and Membership of the Committees in other companies (as disclosed) are as below:
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership India Carbon Limited Director Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited Director • Audit Committee
• Nomination and Remuneration Committee
• Stakeholders Relationship Committee
• Risk Management CommitteeChairman
Chairman
Member
ChairmanInnvol Medical India Limited Director Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited Director • Audit committee
• Risk Management and Sustainability Committee
• Nomination Remuneration CommitteeChairman
Chairman
MemberTitagarh Wagons Limited Director • Audit committee
• Nomination Remuneration Committee
• Finance Project Committee
• Risk Management CommitteeMember
Member
Chairman
MemberIndivinity Clothing Retail Pvt Ltd. Director • Audit committee
• Nomination Remuneration CommitteeChairman
Member -
Dr. G Venkatesh | Director
Dr. G. Venkatesh (DIN: 00092085) born on June 4, 1961 was originally appointed on January 25, 2005 and was re-categorized as a Non-Executive Director of the Company by the shareholders at the 34th AGM of the Company held on July 20, 2022.
He is a graduate in Electronics from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, a Ph.D in Computer Science from TIFR, Bombay, a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers, and a Fellow of the IETE. He has been with Sasken since 1995 and has wide experience in Information Technology. He started as a researcher at India’s premier research institute TIFR, Bombay, then moved to the Computer Science department of IIT Bombay where he spent 8 years teaching and researching in the areas of temporal logic, functional / logic programming, applications of logic and languages to VLSI design, which resulted in about 50 papers in international conferences and journals in these areas. He made his transition to the industry in 1990 when Sasken was in its start-up phase and moved full time to Sasken as Technology head in 1995. He was elevated to the Board on January 25, 2005 as a Whole Time Director and transitioned to Non - Executive Director on January 19, 2015. He played various management roles such as Engineering Head, Global Delivery Head, BU Head, Product Division Head, Chief Technology Officer, etc. He was elected to hold a ‘fellowship’ position in Sasken by the Governing Council in January 2015.
He has been an adjunct faculty of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore from 2003 to 2013, where he offered a course on the application of game theory to strategic thinking in the technology industry. In 2014, he was appointed by IIT Madras as the Analog Devices Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Since 2017, he serves as a Professor of Practice in the Humanities Department, IIT Madras, where he teaches Technology & Public Policy and Computational Economics and works with state government agencies on policy formulation in education and technology. He is also a co-founder of the online BSc Degree in Programming and Data Science offered by IIT Madras, in which he teaches courses on Computational Thinking and Business Data Management. He is an active speaker on collaborative innovation models and on viable strategies for SMEs in India. He also serves on several Government and Industrial committees related to the semiconductor, telecom, and education sectors. In recognition of these activities linking academics and industry, he won the Technomentor award of the Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association in 2013 and the Vasvik award for industrial research in 2015.
He is a director in Mylspot Education Services Private Limited, Fulcrum Education Private Limited, IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation, Agami Fintech Solutions Private Limited and Taco Sasken Automotive Electronics Limited (under liquidation).
He is a Member of Stakeholders’ Relationship Committee and Risk Management Committee of the Company.
He holds 1,46,260 equity shares in the Company.
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership Mylspot Education Services Private Ltd. Director Fulcrum Education Private Ltd. Director IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation Director Taco Sasken Automotive Electronics Limited (Under Liquidation) Director Agami Fintech Solutions Private Limited Director -
Ms. Madhu Khatri | Independent Director
Ms. Madhu Khatri (DIN 00480442) is an in Independent Director of the Company, born on July 13, 1963. She is a seasoned C- Suite executive with over 30 years of global experience working with multinational companies as a trusted advisor to corporate leaders on risk mitigation, compliance, reputation management, business strategy, mergers & acquisitions and complex legal & policy issues. In the course of these 30 years, she has been the General Counsel of Microsoft India and the General Counsel of Wipro. Her experience includes being legal counsel at GE Health Care South Asia, advisory work at PWC & Arthur Andersen and extensive litigation experience in tax courts and the Supreme Court of India.
She graduated from Lady Shri Ram College with a B.A in Political Science (Hons), a Bachelors in law (LL.B) from Delhi University and a Masters in Law ( LL.M) from Columbia University.
Name of the company Position Name of the Committee Committee Chairmanship / Membership Junior Achievement India Services Director
