Our leadership team

Patrick Elliott

CEO, HGS UK

Patrick is an experienced leader with a track record of building and growing profitable businesses across IT services, telecom, and business services. With more than 30 years of experience, he has demonstrated his capability in business transformation, driving growth, and turning around businesses within both large corporates and smaller entrepreneurial environments. He has a background in product management, sales and marketing, strategy, and commercial and general management. Patrick was last with Capita, and out of his 10 years-stint there, he spent the last three years helping redefine and lead the strategy for digital. He has previously held senior management positions at The Instant Group, Serco, SAIC, Opta Ltd., BT Cellnet, Orange, and Philips, all in the UK.

Press Release: HGS appoints Patrick Elliott as new CEO for HGS UK

Mr. Vynsley Fernandes (Whole-time Director)

Mr. Vynsley Fernandes was the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of NXTDIGITAL Limited, the media vertical of the global Hinduja Group. The media vertical comprises digital content distribution platforms via digital cable and satellite (HITS); India’s 4th largest private ISP (OneOTT Intertainment Ltd.) and a content syndication arm (IN Entertainment Ltd.).

Vynsley is a veteran media executive and one of India’s foremost technocrats – with three decades of experience in delivering & managing global assignments – including DTH & HITS platforms; digital cable networks; and news & entertainment channels.

He joined the media business of the Hinduja Group in August 2018. Since then, he has been instrumental in driving a new vision for the media business and transforming it into a technology-driven group – focusing on building emerging solutions like NXTSkyFi – the broadband-over-satellite solution, India’s first digital integrated solution ONEDigital; and the award-winning NXTHUB concept. Vynsley has been associated with the Group since 2013, first consulting to launch India’s only HITS platform.

Prior to joining NXTDIGITAL, Vynsley was the Executive Director at Castle Media; a leading technology, media & entertainment consulting to-delivery firm which he co-founded. Prior to that, Vynsley had managed high profile assignments for leading blue-chip media organisations including 21st Century Fox (then News Corporation), TATA SKY, ABP News and the 9X Network.

With an academic background in Mass Communications and Media, he is considered a thought leader in the media & entertainment space. Vynsley continues to represent the industry at various international and national forums and has several accolades to his credit including being recognized with the prestigious “CEO of the Year” award presented by World Leadership Congress in 2021.

Mr. Pradeep Udhas, (Independent Director)

Mr. Pradeep Udhas is an American Citizen and a Resident of Mumbai, India. He has a MBA in Management Information Systems from Union College, New York.

Mr. Pradeep Udhas was a Senior Partner at KPMG India, which he co-founded 27 years ago. He has held various senior positions including Global roles in KPMG, incubated many new services, building up to multi-million dollar businesses. He has also been a founder of e2e Technologies, a US-based Solution Architecture firm and has set up Greater Pacific Capital, a PE firm’s India operations. His extensive background in global business, management consulting, technology, private equity and quality systems makes him uniquely qualified to pursue innovative global strategies.

Mr. Paul Abraham, (Independent Director)

Mr. Paul Abraham is President of the Hinduja Foundation which is the Philanthropic arm of the Hinduja Group that directs and coordinates the CSR spends of the 14 group companies in India in key areas like Water Stewardship, Health and Education, Environment and Sports. He also sits on the Boards of the not for profit Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai and PD Hinduja Hospital, Bangalore and is an Advisor to the Hinduja College.

A banker with over 38 years of experience, Mr. Paul was COO at IndusInd Bank. Prior to that he has had senior management stints across multiple functions with multinational Banks ABN AMRO and ANZ Grindlays and worked in multiple geographies like India, Dubai and Singapore.

Mr. Paul Abraham is also an Advisor to the Indian Sanitation Council hosted by FICCI and is a Member of FICCI’s Water mission.

Mr. Paul has a Post Graduate Degree in Business Management from IIM Ahmedabad and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (Hons) from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Mr. Munesh Khanna, (Independent Director)

Mr. Munesh Khanna, Ex-Country Head of NM Rothschilds & Sons  is an experienced Investment Banker, a Board Member and an Advisor to many companies. In 1985, post completion of his CA, he joined the accounting and advisory firm of Arthur Andersen and was subsequently made a partner in the tax practice before rising to become the Country Head of its Corporate Finance Division. In 2001, he assumed responsibility as Managing Director and Country Head of NM Rothchild & Sons in India. In addition to this, his work experience includes being the Country Head of Investment Banking at DSP Merrill Lynch and the Country Leader of Corporate Finance and Restructuring at Pricewaterhousecoopers.

With these work experiences, Munesh is well founded in accounting, extensive understanding of tax and corporate affairs, an expert in corporate finance as well as strategy and business restructuring. He has been involved in complex transactions in India, such as Enron Dabhol Power company restructuring, acquisition of Tetley Tea by Tata Tea, the largest Indian overseas acquisition of its time, listing of Cairn Energy in India, listing of India’s first FM Radio company – Radio Mirchi,  listing of India’s first low-cost airline – Air Deccan, privatization of Mumbai Airport – restructuring and subsequent privatization of DOT – restructuring of the State Electricity Distribution companies of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.

Mr. Munesh Khanna is presently an Independent Director on the Boards of  Gulf Oil Lubricants Ltd., JSW Energy Ltd., NXTDigital Ltd., JM Financial Products Ltd., JM Financial Capital Ltd., JM Financial Asset & Reconstruction Company Ltd. As a member of the Board, Munesh sits on various committees such as Audit, NRC and Stakeholders committee. In addition, Munesh also sits on the Sponsorship & Credit committee of JM Financial Products Ltd. and has been serving as a Trustee for Balaji Medical and Diagnostic Research Centre (Society), which runs a 550-bed hospital at Patparganj, New Delhi.

He was also the Chairman of the Mumbai Chapter of WPO Organization in India (an international community of 33,000 Global leaders) and served as a member of the National Council of several professional and Industry trade bodies such as FICCI and CII. He now runs his own corporate & strategic advisory and investment banking firm, Backbay Advisors LLP, standing established in 2018. On May 19, 2022, this Partnership firm has been converted and incorporated as Backbay Advisors Private Limited.

Shri Ashok P Hinduja (Chairman)

Known affectionately as ‘AP’ among his business associates and friends, Shri Ashok P. Hinduja is the youngest son of Shri P. D. Hinduja, Founder of Hinduja Group and Hinduja Foundation.

AP and his three brothers, Shri Srichand (SP), Shri Gopichand (GP) and Shri Prakash (PP) Hinduja, supported by the third generation of the Hinduja family, have been guiding the diversified global growth of one of the world’s foremost privately owned Groups with a global footprint across 38 countries, employing 150,000+ people. AP joined the family’s expanding business at a young age looking after the affairs in India. As Chairman, Hinduja Group of Companies (India), AP has been driving the Group’s growth and diversification since it re-entered India in the mid-eighties.

AP also oversees the philanthropic activities of Hinduja Foundation, whose primary focus is on education and healthcare. He is the founder-member of the National Health and Education Society, which runs the P. D. Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Mumbai. He is also the Managing Trustee of the KPB Hinduja College of Commerce, Mumbai.

A graduate in Commerce from the University of Mumbai, AP has been conferred honorary Doctorates in Law and Economics respectively, by the University of Westminster, UK and Richmond College, UK, and an Honorary Doctorate by European University, Geneva. Besides reading, AP’s interests include art, architecture, cinema, television and creative media / entertainment.

Santanu Nandi

Senior Vice President – Global Business Excellence, HGS

Santanu Nandi heads HGS’ Global Business Excellence function that manages the areas of process design, compliance and re-engineering, and drives impact for clients, employees and organizational stakeholders.

Santanu has been associated with the Contact Center and BPM industry right from its global inception. He has previously worked with industry leaders like Accenture, Convergys (later acquired by Concentrix) and GE Capital. He has extensive experience in developing and managing profitable service operations while delivering excellence. His experience spans three decades in various industries such as BPM, Consumer Finance and Engineering & IT, cutting across various roles like sales, business unit management, business excellence, service operations, solution development and business transition.

Santanu has a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) degree from SGSITS, Indore and a Post-Graduate Degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, a premier management school in India.

Partha DeSarkar

Partha De Sarkar is the Chief Executive Officer of HGS and leads the organization across all its geographies. He is also an Executive Director of the HGS Board of Directors.

Partha has more than 25 years of experience in customer service and operations across industries like Banking, Financial Services and Health Insurance. Prior to joining HGS, Partha has worked with Deloitte Consulting, GE Capital International Services and Bank of America.

Partha holds a post-graduate degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, and a Masters degree in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai. He has also done his PhD in Strategic Management at IIT Delhi.

Sudhanshu Tripathi

Sudhanshu Tripathi is a member of Hinduja Group’s apex Global Leadership. Apart from collective leadership responsibilities, he oversees: i) Board Governance, effectiveness and assessment process ii) Group Human Capital Strategy & Execution iii) Group leadership lifecycle. He is a Director on Boards of Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd., Hinduja Ventures Ltd. and Ashley Aviation Ltd.

He is a seasoned HR professional with over 35 years work experience; 22 of them at leadership level. He has had direct exposure of Telecom, IT, Engineering, Metal, Power, Financial Sources, Media and other diversified domains and brings a strong business perspective to his work. He has worked as a shop floor Engineer, IT Specialist, Management Development Professional before choosing HR as career. He specialises in very large and diversified multi location conglomerates. Prior to joining Hinduja Group in 2008, he has worked with (a) Essar Group – Leading HR function as Chairman of Group HR Council, (b) Reliance Communications as a member of the top leadership team responsible for design, build up and HR process institutionalisation, (c) Usha Martin Group as Head – Corporate HR, and (d) Tata Steel, at various levels. He has received many awards, the most recent one being Business World Award for outstanding contribution to the field of HR. He has been a Member of Eastern Regional Council, All India Mgmt. Association and has also been associated with FICCI, EFJ and Rotary Club. He has taught at XLRI, Indian Institute of Coal Management and other Management Schools as Visiting Faculty.

Dr. Ganesh Natarajan

Dr. Ganesh Natarajan is Executive Chairman and Founder of SF World, a platform for Digital Start-ups, Skills and Social Ventures in the country. He is also Founder of Global Talent Track and Skills Alpha and co-founder of two fndo-US Joint Ventures – Kalzoom Advisors and the Centre for Al and Advanced Analytics. He is Global Board Director and Chairman of the India Board of Social Venture Partners and Chairman of Pune City Connect, a unique collaborative platform that enables corporations to work with the Government on social and city innovation. He is also on the Board of Principal Asset Management Private Limited, Fino Payment Bank and S P Robotics Works and some digital and social start-ups. He has been Chairman of NASSCOM AND NASSCOM Foundation and various National Committees of CII and President of the HBS Club of India.

Ganesh has a Masters in Industrial Engineering from NITIE, PhD from IIT Bombay and AMP from Harvard Business School. He has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Bombay and NITIE and has been recognized by EY and the Asia Pacific HR Forum for excellence in entrepreneurship and people-centric leadership. He has completed two successful CEO tenures over twenty-five years at APTECH and Zensar Technologies. Harvard Business School has written and teaches two case studies on Dr. Ganesh Natarajan and his success through Vision Communities.

Bhumika Batra

Ms. Bhumika Batra is a law graduate, a qualified company secretary and a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. She is a recipient of scholarship from London School of Economics. She is a Partner of Crawford Bayley & Co., one of the oldest law firms in India. She possesses over 15 years of experience in regulatory and legal practice, specializing in corporate law.

She has co-authored the book “Treatise on Company Law” in 2014. She is a regular feature writer in India Business Law Journal. She has also contributed in various other writings, like Company Law Ready Reckoner, Transfer and Transmission of Shares – A treatise, Asia Business Law Journal, etc.

She sits as an independent director on the board of Jyothy Laboratories Limited, Sharp India Limited, Hinduja Tech Limited, Repro India Limited, Kancor Ingredients Limited.

Anil Harish

Mr. Anil Harish has B.A., LL.B., and LL.M. (USA) degrees. He is an Advocate and is a partner of D.M. Harish & Co., a well-known Firm of Advocates and he possesses over thirty-five years of experience in legal practice, specializing in Corporate Law, Income-tax, FEMA and property matters. He is a member of Board of Directors of several companies.

Mr. Anil Harish is member of the Advisory Board of All India Business Council, was Executive Vice President of the Society of Indian Law firms (SILF), and was member of the Managing Committee of Indian Merchants Chamber, ITAT Bar Association and Chamber of Income Tax Consultants. He has written several articles on Legal and Tax matters.

Yashodhan Madhusudan Kale

Yashodhan Madhusudan Kale (“Mr. Kale”), he is FCA (England and Wales), a former President of ICAI (1995-96) and was a Member of the International Accounting Standards Board (formerly called IASC) as India representative. Mr. Kale has considerable experience and expertise in professional areas including Corporate Governance, Accounting, Auditing and Corporate Laws.  Mr. Kale is the Group President – Corporate Governance & Development of Hinduja Group Limited for over thirteen years. He is currently a Director of IndusInd Bank Limited and a Member of its Audit Committee. He was a Director of reputed listed and other companies within and outside the Hinduja Group. Mr. Kale was a Member of several committees appointed by the Government, Regulatory bodies and Chamber of Commerce, viz. RBI, NSE, SEBI, Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc.

Shilpa Sinha Harsh

Sr. Vice President – Global Corporate Communications, CSR and D&I

Shilpa Sinha Harsh heads the Global Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) teams at HGS. Her key responsibility is to strengthen the HGS brand across strategic areas such as media and industry relations, employee communications, digital communications, corporate branding, recruitment marketing, community relations and diversity & inclusion.

Shilpa brings nearly 20 years of experience in corporate communications, corporate marketing, sales enablement and talent acquisition branding, with core strengths in driving integrated marketing campaigns across geographies. Prior to joining HGS, Shilpa headed the Marketing & Communications function for [24]7.ai India and was part of the India Management team. Her earlier leadership stints have included with Accenture, Adfactors PR and LinOpinion, where she has handled strategic communication campaigns.

Shilpa holds a Bachelor of Arts (English Honors) degree from the Delhi University, India and PGDM – Advertising and Communications from National Institute of Advertising, Delhi, India.

Natarajan Radhakrishnan

Global CIO

As President and Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at HGS, Natarajan Radhakrishnan (Nat) is responsible for managing Enterprise IT and Automation, fostering innovation across the organization and developing new industry-oriented solutions.

Nat has over 29 years of industry experience in diverse areas such as investment banking, information technology, consulting, solution/ IP development and business development. His core strengths are in aligning business and IT initiatives, change management and digital business transformation. Prior to joining HGS, Natarajan was engaged in Public-Private-Partnership initiatives with two of the Indian State Governments in the Healthcare and Transportation sectors. He has also held senior management positions in organizations like IBM, Capgemini, Cognizant and Deutsche Bank group.

Nat is a Science graduate and also holds a PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad and a CFA degree. He is a member of the national advisory committee of Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments (CISI), a non-profit educational body promoted by members of London Stock Exchange.

Narendra Singh

Senior Vice President & Company Secretary

Narendra Singh is the Senior Vice President & Company Secretary at HGS. In this role, he heads the Corporate Secretarial Function and provides corporate secretarial support to HGS and all its subsidiaries globally.

Narendra has over 25 years of experience in handling corporate secretarial matters with publicly-listed companies. Prior to joining HGS, he worked with Wockhardt Limited, Aditya Birla Group, Cairn India, GMR Infrastructure and Polaris Software Lab Pvt. Ltd.

Narendra is a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretary of India (ICSI). He holds a Bachelor and Post Graduate Degree in Law from Delhi University. He has written many articles that have been published in journals by the ICSI, Corporate Law Reporter and Corporate Professionals, and has been a regular speaker at the ICSI.

Giridhar GV

Executive Vice President- Global Human Resources

Giridhar (Giri) is the Executive Vice President – Global Human Resources at HGS. In his role, he is responsible for managing the entire employee life-cycle in the organization, crafting HR strategies to drive business outcomes, driving a strong culture and Leadership succession planning, to support the business objectives of HGS.

Giri has close to three decades of work experience spanning across manufacturing, hospitality, BPM, and professional services industries. He has multi-functional and varied industry experience, ranging from start-up operations to setting up a large captive global delivery services centre. He has earlier worked with Indian Hotels Company Ltd (Taj Group of Hotels), [24]7.ai, and EY. His last stint was with EY, where he held senior leadership positions such as COO for EY’s Global Deliver Services in India and as GDS Global Talent Leader.

Giri has a post graduate diploma in Human Resource Management and is a passionate leadership coach. He has coached / mentored several leaders. He is an avid reader and also writes short blogs as a hobby.

Andrew Kokes

Executive Vice President, Global Head of Marketing

Andrew leads HGS’s global marketing strategy and execution, including product planning, brand positioning and vertically targeted growth Andrew leads global marketing strategy and execution for HGS, including product planning, brand positioning, and vertically targeted growth activities. He has over 20 years of experience as a B2B marketing executive, focused on generating revenue through strategic solutions development, product management, and positioning of industry innovations.

Andrew has been in the customer experience and contact management industry since 1997, focused on global sourcing solutions in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, the Philippines, and India. Andrew is one of the key developers of early social CRM offerings to drive online conversion and web retention, recognized by Frost & Sullivan with an innovation award and by Nelson Hall as leading the industry with market share adoption.  Andrew has been a member of the Nashville 2-1-1 board of advisors, Nashville Healthcare Council, and is an alumnus of Hastings College.

Andrew is one of the key developers of early Social CRM offerings to drive Andrew contributes thought leadership articles to Forbes magazine on digital customer experiences (CX), analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence.

Venkatesh Korla

President and CEO of HGS Digital
Chief Revenue Officer, HGS North America

Venkatesh has provided expert consultation on digital strategies and solutions for Global 1000 companies, healthcare institutions, universities, and not-for-profit organizations. He has over 25 years of experience in the digital marketing space as a technology consultant and executive. His knowledge and experience with digital strategies across multiple industries makes him a sought-after consultant and advisor. By founding Element Solutions, which is now doing business as HGS Digital, he has built a company that provides strategic consulting, technology platform selection, design, and implementation services. Through HGS Digital’s portfolio of services – encompassing digital customer experience, data and analytics, marketing tech, intelligent automation, and cloud – he is helping many of the world’s leading brands define and achieve their digital transformational goals.

Srinivas Palakodeti

Global CFO

Srinivas Palakodeti, fondly called Pala, spear-heads our Finance function across all global locations and subsidiaries. An integral member of our Global Executive Council, he plays a key role in Mergers & Acquisitions strategy and execution.

Pala has a long association with the Hinduja Group, handling versatile assignments and diverse roles in the Group Companies – Ashok Leyland Investments Services, Hinduja TMT Ltd., IndusInd Bank and IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd. Prior to joining HGS, he was working as the Executive Vice President – Strategy for the Hinduja Group. Pala has also served as the CFO of companies like IMCL, Sahara One Media and Entertainments Ltd and Sakal Papers Ltd.

He brings with him 21 years of rich industry experience with cross functional capabilities in operations, project planning & implementation, deal structuring and investor relations.

Pala holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a Bachelors degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi.

Pushkar Misra

CEO & President, HGS APAC

Pushkar Misra is President and Chief Executive Officer of HGS APAC and leads the organization across all of HGS’s locations in the Asia-Pacific.

Pushkar has over 27 years of experience in the industry, 18 years of which has been with the Hinduja Group in various capacities and functions, including investment banking, project management, business planning and development and corporate finance. He specializes in project planning and implementation. Prior to joining HGS, Pushkar was the CEO of Hinduja Global’s Media Commerce and E-Commerce businesses in India.

Pushkar holds a B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur India and an MBA from the Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmadabad, India.

Narasimha Murthy

President, HGS Americas

Narasimha Murthy is responsible for Strategic Initiatives in M&A, New Markets, New Product Development, Technology, as well as Risk Management, Finance and Corporate Governance in Americas. He has been a key member of HGS’ Global Leadership team for the past 11 years.

During his time with HGS, Murthy has held a number of roles including Business Development, Business Transition, Delivery and Planning. In a career spanning 20 years, Murthy has been associated with organizations like Datapro, GTL, PCL, and Larsen & Toubro. He has been instrumental in successfully transitioning complex off shore projects in Telecom and Health care to India. Murthy holds a degree in Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai and a post-graduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata.

Partha DeSarkar

Global CEO

Partha DeSarkar is the Chief Executive Officer of HGS and leads the organization across all its geographies. He is also an Executive Director of the HGS Board of Directors.

Partha has more than 25 years of experience in customer service and operations across industries like Banking, Financial Services and Health Insurance. Prior to joining HGS, Partha has worked with Deloitte Consulting, GE Capital International Services and Bank of America.

Partha holds a post-graduate degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, and a Masters degree in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai. He has also done his PhD in Strategic Management at IIT Delhi.