Microsoft India has announced the appointment of Arun Kakatkar as the General Manager of Human Resources for India and South Asia, with effect from February 2024.

In his new role, Arun succeeds Ira Gupta, the Chief Human Resources Officer for India and South Asia, who stepped down from the role recently. Ira joined the IT giant in 2012 as the HR Director, and was elevated to her recent role as CHRO in 2017. She played a pivotal role in aligning the organisation's people strategy with business objectives, fostering diversity, inclusion, and transformation, talent development, as well as transformation across Microsoft India and South Asia during COVID-19 pandemic.

Arun brings over 28 years of HR leadership experience across engineering, manufacturing, software and technology sectors. This is his second stint with Microsoft, as he previously worked as the Director of People and Organisation Capability for APAC region for over three years. In his other roles, Arun has served Kalyani Group as the President and Chief of Strategy and Organisation, TE Connectivity in several leadership roles including, Managing Director for India and Vice President of HR for APAC region, Flextronics as the Senior HR Manager for APAC region, and Ingersoll Rand as the Head of Talent Management and Organisation Development.  

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On the academic front, Arun holds an MBA degree in Operations Management and HR, and Bachelor of Engineering degree from Savitribai Phule Pune University. His core competencies include, organisational leadership, culture and people transformation, leadership development, talent management and acquisition, employee engagement, performance management, DEI, and strategic planning.