MAM
Shantanu Naidu to steer Tata Motors strategy in new leadership role
In a move that has the industry buzzing, Shantanu Naidu, the dynamic entrepreneur and close associate of Ratan Tata, has been appointed as the general manager, head of Strategic Initiatives at Tata Motors as of January 2025.
In his new role at Tata Motors, Naidu is expected to spearhead strategic initiatives, leveraging his diverse experience in business strategy, engineering, and leadership. His appointment is anticipated to infuse fresh perspectives into Tata Motors’ strategic direction, aligning with the company’s vision for innovation and growth.
Naidu, 31, is no stranger to innovation. He founded Motopaws in 2015, an NGO dedicated to animal welfare, and later established Goodfellows India in 2021, focusing on providing companionship to senior citizens. His entrepreneurial spirit is further showcased through his authorship with HarperCollins Publishers India and his role as the founder of On Your Sparks, a platform aimed at guiding young entrepreneurs.
His journey with the Tata Group began in 2014 as a design engineer at Tata Elxsi. Over the years, he ascended to significant positions, including deputy general manager and later general manager in the office of Ratan Tata. His close association with the Tata patriarch led him to pen the memoir “I Came Upon a Lighthouse,” offering insights into their unique mentor-mentee relationship.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
