Microsoft-owned professional networking platform LinkedIn on August 23 announced the appointment of long-time executive Kumaresh Pattabiraman as the new Country Manager and Product Head for India. With 135 million members, India is the second-largest and one of the fastest-growing markets for the company.
Pattabiraman takes over from Ashutosh Gupta who stepped down from his position in April after an 11-year stint. Along with being the country manager for India, he was the APAC head of online sales for LinkedIn marketing solutions. In June, he joined venture capital (VC) firm Avataar Venture Partners as an operating partner and head of GTM CoE.
Pattabiraman has over 15 years of experience in product and engineering roles. He has held leadership roles at both LinkedIn and its parent company Microsoft.
Pattabiraman joined LinkedIn in July 2013 as the Group Product Manager for the company’s search and discovery product team. In subsequent roles, he has played a key role in improving the company’s member experience by enhancing products such as Search and Feed and launching products such as Profile Video and Career Breaks, the company said. His last role was Senior Director Product, Profile, Search, and Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI).
He is an alumnus of the College of Engineering, Guindy and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“Having started my career as an engineer in Bengaluru and built teams in India across LinkedIn and Microsoft, I can say that the energy, ambition, and potential of Indian talent, especially in R&D, are unparalleled. India is among the top five countries with the fastest-growing AI talent and has the highest AI skill penetration globally, with our members using AI skills 3 times more frequently than the global average. This puts India at the forefront of the future of work, and sets us up brilliantly to build in India for the world,” says Pattabiraman in his Linkedin post confirming his appointment.
“I look forward to working closely with the India team and valued partners to drive innovation, build strong partnerships, and create economic opportunity for every professional in India,” he added.
