Tata Digital is preparing to bring in Sajith Sivanandan as its new chief executive officer, according to people familiar with the development, marking a significant leadership shift at the Tata Sons-owned ecommerce and services arm.
Sivanandan, who is currently president at Reliance Jio Mobile Digital Services, is expected to assume charge in the coming weeks. His appointment follows the exit of Naveen Tahilyani earlier this year and comes at a time when Tata Digital is reshaping its top deck and recalibrating strategy under the close watch of Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran, who recently took direct charge of operations amid the churn.
A seasoned technology leader, Sivanandan spent over a decade at Google, where he headed its payments business and the Next Billion Users initiative across India and Asia-Pacific. His work focused on expanding internet adoption and building digital payment ecosystems at scale, experience that Tata insiders believe will be critical as the group attempts to strengthen its position in one of India’s most competitive markets.
At Tata Digital, his mandate will be clear: sharpen the company’s play in ecommerce, quick commerce, and digital services, sectors dominated by global and domestic giants including Amazon, Walmart-owned Flipkart, and Reliance. The group has invested heavily in its Tata Neu super app, but uptake has been mixed, forcing multiple pivots and strategy resets.
The appointment is seen as an effort to bring stability and renewed focus after a series of leadership exits. For Sivanandan, the move represents a return to leading consumer-facing digital businesses, this time at the helm of one of India’s oldest conglomerates as it races to secure a meaningful share of the country’s digital economy.
