Global automotive supplier company, Continental has elevated Ajay Kumar as the Chief HR of the India business. He joined the company in 2015, enabling Continental’s growth while leveraging India advantage in R&D competence to provide the best class solutions in the mobility domain.

In the latest development, he has taken over the role of India CHRO (Country HR Head) for Continental Group in India. In his new role, he will be responsible for the HR topics for all Business Divisions of Continental Group in India, which has eight plants at various locations and a large R&D organization in India.  

Commenting on his new stint with Continental, he said, “Staying attuned to the employee perspective is a key priority for me. Tomorrow’s workplace is even more competitive than we know today. Globalization and digitalization have brought in significant changes to workplaces and workplace cultures. What is today a revolutionary HR concept may become a mandate or an expectation tomorrow? An HR practitioner always needs to be agile, with an ear for trends, and always seeing things from different perspectives.”

Kumar’s key focus areas are to lead the strong workforce across different businesses with a diverse portfolio, balancing what’s important for the people and the business and enabling the progressive growth from a competency perspective. 

Before joining Continental, he was working with Bosch India as General Manager. In Bosch, he was managing the people side of the business for 3500 Engineers, with the additional responsibility of strategically leading the talent acquisition initiatives for the engineering and R&D organization.

Ajay Kumar is an industry veteran and worked in companies such as Bosch, Cipla, Larsen, and Toubro.