Food giant Cargill today announced the appointment of Aparna Rao as the India leader for its shared services division Cargill Business Services (CBS). 

As a part of her role, she will provide strategic leadership for CBS in India, spearhead critical initiatives and drive a people-first culture. Additionally, she will be an integral member of the CBS global leadership team based in Bengaluru, India. 

“India is a strategic location for Cargill Business Services, and a critical enabler of our global operations. As we continue to strengthen our shared services capabilities, Aparna’s extensive leadership experience in the shared services industry will further help us generate significant value for our employees and customers globally,” said Kim Skanson, President and Global Leader for Cargill Business Services.

With over two decades of experience managing large cross-functional teams, cultivating, and nurturing global teams, and leveraging distinct talent pools within multinational corporations, Rao brings a wealth of knowledge to her role at Cargill. 

Prior to joining Cargill, she was heading the Bayer’s Shared Services Center in Bengaluru and was a member of their South Asia country leadership team. 

Rao has extensive expertise in finance, operations, knowledge management, and talent development and has previously worked with Monsanto Holdings, Tesco HSC, and Hewlett Packard.

“I am impressed with the breadth and scale of Cargill Business Services in India with two centres in Bangalore and Gurgaon that provides a wide range of services including finance, IT, data, analytics, human resources, procurement, transportation and logistics, trade execution, ocean transportation, compliance, project management amongst others. I am looking forward to working with colleagues and the organisation to drive our strategic, people and culture priorities,” said Rao.

Rao holds an ACMA in Cost and Management Accounting from the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), Bengaluru, and holds a Commerce degree from Bangalore University.

Cargill Business Services (CBS) India is a global multi-function shared services hub providing services across multiple business functions and processes - finance, IT, source to pay, transportation and logistics, and HR. It currently operates out of two centres in Bengaluru and Gurugram and has over 3,500 employees.