MindTree appoints Bagchi as 'gardener'

BANGALORE, INDIA: MindTree Consulting Ltd., today announced its first management restructuring with the appointment of Ashok Soota as executive chairman and Subroto Bagchi as 'gardener.'

Addressing the media, Soota, the chairman and managing director of MindTree, said: "This is the first ever management changes in MindTree since its inception in 1999 and it is a key strategy of our version 2.0. "We are creating a platform to be a much larger company in the years to come."

In his new role, Soota will focus on strategic initiatives in MindTree's expansion and growth. He will also continue to be the chairman of the board.

Bagchi, currently chief operating officer based out of the US, will return to India to take on the first-ever position of 'gardener' in MindTree.

These changes will be effective from April 1, 2008 and expand the role of more than 150 leaders throughout the organization.

Speaking about his new role Subroto said, "It is not the response to seasonal events. We are looking at growth potential in next five to ten years. We are talking about MindTree version 2.0."

Talking about his new designation as gardener, which he put forward to the board members and eventually accepted by the board, he said that it is an innovative thought and it goes in hand with the name of the company itself.

Trees require tending and the gardener knows those trees well, and with humility and expertise he would tend them to grow well.

"As a gardener, job never gets done," Bagchi said.

He would focus on strengthening the emotional infrastructure of MindTree, as a gardener he would work with the top 100 MindTree minds on their 'personal-professional' issues of leadership and with MindTree's 30 communities of practice in a pull-based manner.

"This is a part of MindTree's focus on capacity building as it braces itself for the next phase in the journey of leadership," said Bagchi.

Krishnakumar Natarajan, who is the president and CEO of MindTree IT services, will assume the role of chief executive officer and managing director of MindTree.

S Janakiraman, president and CEO of R&D services business will continue in his current position. To create bandwidth for him to nurture newer industry groups and practices and to assist him Vinod Deshmukh is appointed as president and Co-CEO of R&D services business.

Janakiraman, speaking about new business, said that currently MindTree is addressing retail, telecom, media, travel and transportation verticals. "Going forward we would be focusing on verticals such as medical, defense, and avionics, which are underserved and we are focusing on semicon design segment."

Salil Godika and NS Parthasarathy are appointed as chief strategy officer and chief operating officer respectively.