Birlasoft, part of the CKA Birla Group has elevated Madhavan Hariharan to chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director, effective 8 December 2026.
Hariharan has already been serving as group head of strategy and group chief finance officer (CFO) since February of 2018.
He brings over 26 years of experience to the table. He was associated with Philips as global finance controller, emerging markets, healthcare division, from 1999 to 2012, working out of the Netherlands. He then served for over three years as vice president-automotive lighting, Philips Lighting before taking on the role of full-time CFO, Philips, in 2015.
August of 2018 saw him move to Calcutta Medical Research Institute as governing council member.
He is an independent director and audit committee chair at Galaxy Surfactants since 2023 and at Kwality Wall’s India since 2025. He is also independent director, IRIS RegTech Solutions since November, 2025 and for the past three months, has been independent director, Hindustan Coca-Cola holdings.
At Birlasoft, he will step into the shoes of Angan Guha. As CFO he had already been working closely with the leadership, helping form strategies, strengthen organizational performance and ensure long-term value creation.
He has successfully lead several business transformations, growth initiatives and strategic transactions across the Group’s portfolio of companies
His ability to make sound decisions and his strategic acumen will remain an asset to Birlasoft.
Amita Birla, chairman, Birlasoft, is relying on Hariharan’s “unique combination of strategic vision, operational discipline and deep familiarity with Birlasoft” to lead the global technology company into its next chapter.
