Balachandar N elevated to group CPO, Ola ANI Technologies

Balachandar N, who joined Ola Electric as the chief people officer early this year, has now been elevated to the position of group chief people officer of Ola ANI Technologies, reveals Balachandar N himself.

Talking to HRKatha, Balachandar shares that he will now be leading the HR operations for all Ola businesses, including the Ola Cabs business.

Ola has been rapidly expanding its business in multiple areas. The Company has launched new verticals — Ola Financial Services, Ola Groceries & Stores as well as Ola Auto, which is a new business for buying and selling cars online.

“We are now planning to strengthen our leadership teams and expand our businesses,” shares Balachandar.

Balachandar’s career spans over three decades, during which he has worked across sectors.

He was on a short break, before which he was the group CHRO of Café Coffee Day Group, where he worked for almost 10 years. He was leading the people function for coffee, logistics, hospitality, financial services, technology, pharma, commercial real estate, timber and also the furniture businesses at the Group.

Bala, as he is known in the industry, was the immediate past president of NHRDN Bangalore.

Having started his career way back in 1988 with ONGC as a labour officer, Bala later ventured into different companies and sectors, and worked successfully with Asian Paints, Standard Chartered Bank, Hewitt Associate and others.

During his career, he has worked across global markets, including Tokyo, Japan where he was serving as the EVP-HR, GE Money, in 2006 after moving from GE Healthcare. After serving in Japan for three years, he moved on to become the CHRO at Strides Acrolab for more than two years, before joining CCD in 2012.

Having worked in multiple markets and sectors, such as pharma, BFSI, manufacturing and healthcare, Balachandar has managed to gather a wealth of experience that will be an asset to Ola ANI Technologies.