Rackspace Names Gajen Kandiah as New Chief Executive Officer

Rackspace Technology has announced the appointment of Gajen Kandiah as Chief Executive Officer, effective September 3, 2025.

Kandiah succeeds Amar Maletira, who has served as CEO since September 2022. Maletira will assume the role of Vice Chairman of the Board and continue as a director, supporting a smooth transition of leadership.

Kandiah’s Background and Experience

Kandiah brings decades of expertise spanning services, infrastructure, software, and AI.

• Most recently, he was President and COO of Hitachi Digital, where he integrated AI into enterprise and industrial portfolios.

• He previously served as CEO of Hitachi Vantara, overseeing digital infrastructure, software, and services.

• Earlier in his career, Kandiah spent 16 years at Cognizant, helping expand the company’s BPO and digital engineering businesses and contributing to its growth from $368 million to over $16 billion.

Strategic Priorities at Rackspace

As CEO, Kandiah will lead Rackspace’s AI-first multicloud strategy, focusing on:

• Designing and operating governed multicloud environments for AI and data workloads.

• Driving innovation in cloud management and private AI.

• Expanding partnerships with hyperscalers, regional cloud providers, and the open ecosystem.

• Enhancing execution acrosssales, delivery, and operations.

Board’s Perspective

Jeffrey Benjamin, Chairman of the Rackspace Board, said: “Gajen is a proven operator across services, infrastructure, software, and AI. His experience aligns with our strategy to deliver secure and governed multicloud solutions with stronger reliability, security, and time to value.”

Kandiah’s Vision for Rackspace

In accepting his new role, Kandiah highlighted his excitement about the company’s culture and mission: “I am honored to lead Rackspace Technology and its exceptional team of Rackers. What draws me most is the Racker culture and our unwavering dedication to customer success. As industries take AI to production, they need the governed multicloud operations that our talented teams design, build, and operate across private, public, and sovereign clouds. It’s exciting to lead an organization that gives customers real choice while simplifying how workloads are managed and protected.”

Benjamin also expressed appreciation for Maletira’s leadership: “On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I thank Amar for his leadership in driving Rackspace’s transformation into a customer-centric, forward-leaning hybrid cloud and AI solutions company, while establishing a scalable business in regulated industries.”