Tata Digital CEO Naveen Tahilyani resigns after 15-month stint

In yet another leadership shakeup within Tata Group’s digital arm, Naveen Tahilyani has stepped down as the managing director and CEO of Tata Digital, just 15 months after taking over the role. His departure underscores the continued operational challenges faced by the conglomerate’s flagship digital initiative, Tata Neu, which has struggled to deliver on expectations despite heavy investment.

Tahilyani, who succeeded founding CEO Pratik Pal in February 2024, has now moved on to a wider international leadership role with UK-based Prudential Plc, where he will serve as regional CEO for India, Africa, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, with oversight of the Health division. The news was reported by Moneycontrol and has since been widely covered across business publications.

This is the second CEO exit from Tata Digital in a little over a year, and it casts fresh doubt on the strategic direction and executional capability of the Group's digital venture. Tata Digital, launched with great fanfare, was envisioned as a one-stop-shop super-app that would integrate the Tata Group's numerous consumer-facing businesses—from BigBasket and 1mg to Tata Cliq and Croma—into a unified digital ecosystem under Tata Neu.

However, the promise of Tata Neu, which was launched in April 2022, has largely failed to materialise. Despite an estimated $2 billion investment, the platform has struggled to attract a loyal user base and has consistently missed its revenue and performance benchmarks. The customer experience remains fragmented, with inconsistent journeys across various verticals, especially at crucial touchpoints such as checkout.

Tahilyani’s mandate when he joined Tata Digital was to streamline operations and bring cohesion to this sprawling network of digital assets. A seasoned Tata veteran who had previously led Tata AIA Life Insurance, he was personally selected by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran to turn around the floundering operation. But sources familiar with the matter suggest that his efforts to integrate the different business units under one digital umbrella were met with resistance. Independent verticals were reportedly unwilling to cede control of their digital strategies, leading to a lack of synergy and limited cross-functional collaboration.

In terms of financial performance, the picture has been bleak. According to filings, Tata Digital posted a net loss of ₹5,553.11 crore in FY23, nearly double its losses of ₹2,945.01 crore the previous year. The losses were driven by substantial spending on technology infrastructure, marketing, and inventory. Industry analysts argue that while building a digital ecosystem of this scale is inherently capital-intensive, the lack of a unifying customer proposition has further exacerbated financial pressures.

“Tata Neu is missing a ‘core use case’ that gives users a compelling reason to return,” said a digital strategy consultant familiar with Indian super-apps. Unlike successful models such as WeChat in China, which leveraged its messaging base to grow into a multifunctional platform, Tata Neu was launched as a commerce-first product. Without a natural entry point or day-to-day utility, user engagement has remained low.