American Software as a Service (SaaS) giant Salesforce and State Bank of India (SBI) could not be more different. Sure, both are sprawling businesses—the former has a market cap of some US$280 billion, the latter is India's largest public sector bank. Their focus and ethos, however, are poles apart. SBI, like most Indian public sector banks, is hardly a paragon of innovation and cutting-edge technology. Salesforce, on the other hand, is a native of the cloud. Its software powers various operations at some of the top corporations worldwide.
So, when Salesforce decided it needed a leader for its Indian operations—which is still a drop in its revenue ocean—you wouldn't imagine that an SBI old-hand would be atop its list of targets. Yet, in April 2020, the company appointed Arundhati Bhattacharya, former chairperson of SBI (and a 36-year veteran of the bank before she helmed it), as chairperson and CEO of its India operations. The task she's been assigned is massive—grow the company's India revenue from roughly US$130-180 million at present, to US$1 billion by 2025.
This, despite Bhattacharya, by her own admission, not being particularly adept at either tech or tech sales. Bhattacharya, though, is no stranger to adversity or firsts. She was the first female head of SBI, saw it through some tumultuous times, orchestrated its digital transformation, and along the way, forged relationships with some of India's most important corporate honchos. In today's articles we at Mumbai Multimedia Studio charts Bhattacharya's journey, maps her traits, and telegraphs her strategy to turbocharge Salesforce.. #yusufbhandarkar #digitalmarketing2021 www.multimediastudio.net
