IITian Arvind Krishna elected as IBM Chief Executive Officer; he joined IBM in 1990

NEW DELHI: Another proud moment for the country as Arvind Krishna, a graduate from IIT Kanpur was elected as IBM Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective April 6, 2020.

"Arvind Krishna elected as IBM Chief Executive Officer Jim Whitehurst elected IBM President Ginni Rometty continues as Executive Chairman of the Board," tweeted IBM.

"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," said Krishna in a statement. "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. Jim will be a great partner in the next step of this journey."

Krishna is currently IBM Senior Vice President for Cloud and Cognitive Software, and was a principal architect of the company's acquisition of Red Hat, according to a statement from IBM. He will take over from Virginia Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"Arvind is the right CEO for the next era at IBM," said Rometty. "He is a brilliant technologist who has played a significant role in developing our key technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, quantum computing and blockchain. He is also a superb operational leader, able to win today while building the business of tomorrow. Arvind has grown IBM's Cloud and Cognitive Software business and led the largest acquisition in the company's history. 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. He is well-positioned to lead IBM and its clients into the cloud and cognitive era."

Krishna has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and a PhD. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined IBM in 1990.

"Another proud moment for IIT Kanpur! Our Distinguished Alumnus Awardee Dr. Arvind Krishna has been appointed the CEO of @IBM. I was happy to meet him in New Jersey in November last year. Congratulations @ArvindKrishna," Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur tweeted.

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