Ravi Venkatesan steps down as chairman of Microsoft India

Ravi Venkatesan, chairman and corporate vice-president of its India operations has resigned after seven years with the software firm.

Microsoft said in a statement it would name a successor to replace Venkatesan shortly, adding that Venkatesan will work with Microsoft International president Jean-Philippe Courtois to ensure a smooth transition with his successor.

Venkatesan's departure follows that of Microsoft India country manager Rajan Anandan earlier this year who left to join as sales head of Google in India  followed by 20-year Microsoft veteran Srinivas Koppolu, the head of Microsoft's development centre in India.

''Venkatesan came to Microsoft India at a very critical time. He has since architected our growth, making this among the fastest growing markets for us,'' said Courtois.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Venkatesan was with US-based Cummins Inc for over 17 years. He served as the chairman of Cummins India and managing director of Tata Cummins Limited, a joint venture between Cummins Inc and Tata Motors in his tenure.

Venkatesan told The Wall Street Journal over the telephone that once the transition is complete he would take a sabbatical for a few months to work on a book on why so few multinational companies have built a sizable business in India and what the lessons are from those that succeeded. He says has been working on the book, Winning In India, for some time.

Venkatesan, who serves on the board of Pune-based Thermax India, is also a member of the executive council of NASSCOM and CII, and is a member of the advisory council of IIT-Bombay and Bengaluru-based Indian Instituts of Information Technology.

Venkatesan has a MBA degree from the Harvard University. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and an MS in industrial engineering from Purdue University.