Nitin Rakesh is the new CEO at Syntel

There is a significant leadership change happening at Syntel with Prashant Ranade being elevated to the role of Executive Vice Chairman and Nitin Rakesh taking over as the Chief Executive officer. Nitin has been instrumental in leading Syntel's KPO business in the past and the role change would obviously mean greater responsibilities for him and also possibly indicates the beginning of some strategic changes in the company.   

The role change will be effective from April 21, 2014. 

Nitin will move into the CEO and President role from his current position as President-Americas, Business Development and Near Shoring Center. Before rejoining Syntel, Nitin served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company, Ltd., a financial services company, from September 2008 to September 2012. He previously developed and led Syntel's Knowledge Process Outsourcing business from 2002 until 2008, playing a pivotal role in building KPO into a high performing service line.

Commenting on the change, Bharat Desai, Syntel's Chairman and Co-founder, said, "On behalf of 22,000+ Syntellers, I thank Prashant for his leadership as CEO and look forward to his continued active involvement, mentorship and strategic guidance as Executive Vice Chairman."

"Nitin is a dynamic and experienced leader with a proven track record of success and an in-depth knowledge of the company, our clients and the markets we serve," said Bharat Desai. "This is truly an exciting time for our company as we help our customers navigate complexity and change. I am confident that under Nitin's leadership, Syntel will continue on its course for long-term outperformance."

"It has been a privilege to lead Syntel for the past four years as CEO and President," said Prashant Ranade. "Nitin's promotion reflects our commitment to people development and providing growth opportunities to leaders. He has consistently demonstrated strong leadership and an appreciation of our core values and culture that will enable him to lead Syntel to continued long-term success. I look forward to working with Nitin in my new role as Executive Vice Chairman."

"I am honored to accept this opportunity to lead Syntel," said Nitin Rakesh. "Syntel has benefited immensely from the strong leadership and vision provided by Bharat, Prashant and the Board. I look forward to building on our growth momentum and continuing to create new opportunities for our clients.

While every IT services organization is doing everything it could to steer its way through a tough market, is the leadership change at Syntel indicative of important transformations in that direction or is it just that - yet another leadership change?

We will find out soon. Watch out this space for more information and also write to us and let us know your opinion.