upGrad, an ed-tech company, has appointed C.P. Gurnani to its Board of Directors, effective from January 2024. Assuming the role of an independent non-executive director, Gurnani joins the board as the skilling giant intensifies its domestic and global expansion efforts, according to an official release.
With a 19-year tenure as the chief executive officer and managing director of Tech Mahindra, Gurnani played a role in the substantial growth of the company. During his leadership, Tech Mahindra experienced significant advancements in operations, innovations, and topline figures, securing its position among the top five Indian IT leaders, the release mentioned.
Having retired from his position last month, Gurnani brings a wealth of experience, having also served on the Board of Mahindra & Mahindra for more than three decades. Prior to his time at Tech Mahindra, he held key leadership positions at HCL Perot JV as the founder and CEO, as per the release.
“As an Independent Director, I will prioritize the global expansion of the company, leveraging its strong credentials. My focus is to work with the leadership teams to transform upGrad into a highly export-oriented product, tapping into opportunities in B2B and B2C markets. I intend to work with the board and mentor the management to set audacious goals that align with positioning upGrad as the global smart content factory,” Gurnani said.
This appointment marks Gurnani as the second non-executive director for the India-based skilling giant, following the announcement of Chegg’s Dan Rosensweig joining the board in March of the previous year, it added.
“At upGrad we have laid a strong and long-term goal of being a lifelong learning partner as we power career success for the global workforce. I’m confident that Gurnani ‘s profound leadership and ability to pre-empt market trends would further enhance our framework and underpin the integrity and efficiency of our business model. CP comes with a very strong business intellect and has a proven record of scaling businesses across both B2B and B2C segments,” Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder, chairperson, upGrad, said.