Indian-origin Arvind Krishna is the New IBM CEO

The IBM Board of Directors elects Arvind Krishna as CEO after the retirement of Virginia Rometty, who has served the company for forty years. Before taking the role as CEO, he has served the company for two years as a senior vice president of hybrid cloud. Arvind is the third Indian to lead the US- based multinational company.

Under graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Arvind has secured a plethora of awards and recognitions including - alumni awards from IITK and the University of Illinois. He was also the editor of IEEE and ACM journals and has published broadly in technical conferences and journals.

Serving the company as CEO, Arvind's role will include - IBM Cloud, IBM Security and Cognitive Applications business, and IBM Research. Prior to this he was working as a general manager of IBM's Systems and Technology Group's development and manufacturing organization. He has also set-up various IBM's data-related business. On Arvind's appointment, Virginia says, “Through his multiple experiences running businesses in IBM, Arvind has built an outstanding track record of bold transformations and proven business results, and is an authentic, values-driven leader." "Krishna is a brilliant technologist who has played a significant role in

The Board ran a world-class succession process and found in Arvind a leader with the business acumen, operational skills, and technology vision needed to guide IBM in this fast-moving industry.

developing our key technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, quantum computing and block chain. He is also a superb operational leader, able to win today while building the business of tomorrow,” she adds.

Commenting on Virginia's statement, Michael Eskew, Lead Director, IBM- Board Director says, “Krishna is the right CEO to lead IBM”. He further adds, “The Board ran a world-class succession process and found in Arvind a leader with the business acumen, operational skills, and technology vision needed to guide IBM in this fast-moving industry.”

On being elected as IBM's CEO, Arvind expresses, “I am thrilled and humbled to be elected as the next Chief Executive Officer of IBM, and appreciate the confidence that Ginni and the Board have placed in me.” “IBM has such talented people and technology that we can bring together to help our clients solve their toughest problems. I am looking forward to working with IBMers, Red Hatters and clients around the world at this unique time of fast-paced change in the IT industry. We have great opportunities ahead to help our clients advance the transformation of their business while also remaining the global leader in the trusted stewardship of technology,” he concludes.