Ashok Vemuri (born April 22, 1968) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations ...

, and Board of Director for Financial Policy and Public Responsibilities at

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinci ...

. Vemuri was the former

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of IGATE and

Conduent Conduent Inc. is an American business services provider company headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. It was formed in 2017 as a divestiture from Xerox. The company offers digital platforms for businesses and governments. , it had over 31 ...

Early life and education

Ashok Vemuri was born on April 22, 1968, and spent his childhood in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. Vemuri subsequently completed his

postgraduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award pos ...

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of managemen ...

at the

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is the world's number 1 business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The school has been accorded the status of an Institute of National Importance by Ministry of Human Resourc ...

, which is equivalent to a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Career

Early positions and Infosys (1992-2013)

In 1992 Vemuri began working in investment banking at

Deutsche Bank AG Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stoc ...

and

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

. Vemuri joined

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is the s ...

in 1999, where he went on to work closely with and be mentored by Narayana Murthy, the co-founder and then-CEO of the company. As of May 2003, Vemuri was serving as vice president and regional manager of sales for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the northeast region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. After management changes in June 2009, '' Forbes India'' reported that "Subhash Dhar, Ashok Vemuri, V. Balakrishnan and B.G. Srinivas... are now coming under he limelight at Infosys These five are among a band of leaders being groomed to take over from the founding team." Vemuri was soon serving as a

senior vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of Infosys, and became a member of the company's executive council. Vemuri went on to hold management roles at Infosys. For a time he served as chairman of the company’s operations in China, also serving on the boards of Infosys in the Americas and Infosys Public Services. Beyond heading Infosys' operations in Canada and eastern North America, he furthermore headed both the Financial Services & Insurance Business division and the Banking, Capital Markets & Strategic Global Sourcing division. Vemuri was appointed to the board of Infosys in June 2011, while retaining his roles as senior vice president and chief of the banking division. Infosys appointed Vemuri the global head of its Manufacturing & Engineering Services division in April 2012. Despite speculation in the press that Infosys was considering Vemuri as a choice for CEO, in September 2013 the press reported that he would instead by joining iGATE.

Work with iGATE (2013-2014)

On September 16, 2013, Vemuri was appointed CEO and president of the IT services provider iGATE, Early in his tenure, Vemuri assured shareholders that the $770 million in debt accrued by iGATE in 2011 would be dealt with in the "near-term," and by March 2014 iGATE had raised $325 million to repay part of the debt. After the company beat analysts expectations for first quarter earnings in 2014, that April the ''Economic Times'' reported that Vemuri had "abandoned the lofty revenue target set by his predecessor" in an effort to set "short-term, achievable growth targets for the company." In the first half of 2014, under Vemuri, iGATE engaged in a "hiring for growth" program and added 2,500 employees, bringing the headcount to 32,742 employees by June 2014. In July 2014, Vemuri was credited with securing a deal with

CNA Financial CNA Financial Corporation is a financial corporation based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its principal subsidiary, Continental Casualty Company (CCC), was founded in 1897. CNA, the current parent company, was incorporated in 1967. CNA is t ...

, estimated to be worth around $200 million.

Capgemini acquisition (2015)

By March 2015, iGATE's stock value had increased since the start of Vemuri's tenure, with the company reaching a market capitalization of $3.3 billion. iGATE also had around 33,000 employees and revenues of about $1.3 billion, much higher than the annual revenue of $851.6 million from 2013. During his first eighteen months at iGATE, the press noted that Vemuri had helped "the firm’s market capitalisation increase almost three times." In April 2015, the French IT company

CapGemini Capgemini SE is a multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and data processing company. The comp ...

announced it would buy iGATE for USD $4 billion, creating a larger company with clients such as

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

and Royal Bank of Canada. Vemuri led iGATE's side of the sale, and in July 2015 was voted into Capgemini's group management board. Vemuri resigned as iGATE CEO in October 2015.

Conduent CEO (2016-2019)

Xerox Corporation Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from Sta ...

announced on June 14, 2016 that Vemuri had been chosen as the CEO of

, Xerox's business process outsourcing unit, which was in the process of being separated as a new independent company. The outsourcing division had been struggling to meet its financial benchmarks, with the ''Economic Times'' opining that "Xerox is betting on IT industry veteran Vemuri's experience to help the company revive its outsourcing business." Xerox chairman and CEO

Ursula Burns Ursula M. Burns (born September 20, 1958) is an American businesswoman. Burns is mostly known for being the CEO of Xerox from 2009 to 2016, the first among black women to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and the first woman to succeed another a ...

stated Vemuri had been selected because of his "deep industry experience and proven track record of leading growth and corporate transformations." Vemuri was appointed executive vice president and CEO of Xerox Business Services LLC, effective July 1. He became the CEO of Conduent after the separation of Xerox into two companies later that year. In May 2019 he resigned from the post of CEO in 2019 Q1 Earnings call. He left Conduent early Aug 2019.

Boards and memberships

Vemuri served on the board of directors for a number of companies. Vemuri was elected to the Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGL) by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

in 2009, and from June 2011 until September 2013 he served on the board of Infosys Limited. While with Infosys, he also had tenures on the boards of Infosys Consulting, Infosys Public Services, and Infosys Technologies (China) Company Limited. From September 2013 until October 2015 he served on the board of iGATE Corporation, also joining the board of iGate Global Solutions on September 17, 2013. Vemuri joined the Board of IT Governors at the World Economic Forum in 2014, and

Capgemini Capgemini SE is a multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and data processing company. The comp ...

's group management board in July 2015. He served on the

board of visitors In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual ...

of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Awards and recognition

Personal life

Vemuri lived with his wife in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

as of 2009, where he continued to be based as of 2016.

References

External links

Ashok Vemuri Biography
by

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vemuri, Ashok 1968 births Living people Telugu people Indian chief executives Businesspeople in software American people of Telugu descent Businesspeople from New Jersey Businesspeople from Andhra Pradesh American people of Indian descent Indian emigrants to the United States American technology chief executives Indian philanthropists