SAP India’s youthful boss Ranajan Das dead

Ranjan Das, chief executive officer and managing director of SAP for the Indian subcontinent region, died after a massive cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Wednesday.

It is learnt that he collapsed at his home in Raheja Bay, Bandra, after returning from the building's in-house gym on Wednesday morning. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital, where he was declared dead.

The 42-year-old Das was the youngest chief executive of a multinational corporation in the country. He was at the helm of the Indian operations of the leading enterprise software maker since 2007.

Geraldine McBride, president, SAP Asia Pacific Japan said, "SAP is deeply saddened by the news that our colleague Ranjan Das, president, SAP India, passed away suddenly on Wednesday. This comes as a great shock to all of us within the SAP family and is felt most profoundly by every one of us. We will be sharing more information once we have had the opportunity to further understand the family's wishes."

Das's death came as more of a surprise as he was a health freak who exercised regularly and was scrupulous about his diet. Nagaraj Bhargava, former director, marketing and strategic initiatives, SAP India, who worked with Das for more than 18 months, described him as a smart, intelligent and ambitious individual. ''He would never miss a gym routine, come what may,'' Bhargava added.

Das led all the market-facing functions for SAP on the Indian subcontinent. He was also responsible for crafting the enterprise application major's go-to-market strategy, driving customer satisfaction and managing the profit and loss for all revenue-generating functions including software sales, consulting, support and education.