Sharmistha Ray has joined American India Foundation (AIF) as director – human resources, bringing over two decades of experience in HR leadership across the corporate and development sectors.
Ray took up the role in October 2026, moving from Tech Mahindra Foundation, where she served as head of human resources from November 2019. At AIF, she will lead the organisation’s people strategy, focusing on talent and performance management, leadership development, organisational effectiveness and HR governance.
Her appointment comes as AIF looks to strengthen its people practices and institutional capabilities as its operations grow in scale and complexity. Ray will work towards aligning HR priorities with the foundation’s mission, while supporting teams across functions and geographies.
She brings experience in organisational development, workforce planning, talent transformation, employee engagement and HR operations. Her professional background spans automobile, technology, test and measurement, and the development sectors, giving her exposure to diverse business environments and organisational structures.
Before joining Tech Mahindra Foundation, Ray was associated with Concorde Motors India, where she held the positions of head of human resources and national head – HR, administration and Legal between May 2017 and July 2019. Her responsibilities covered HR leadership as well as administrative and legal functions.
Earlier, she worked with UST Global as senior HRIS manager in its HR Solutions Practice, Global Business Services, from February 2015 to January 2016. Prior to that, she spent nearly eight years at Agilent Technologies as manager – HR, from May 2007 to February 2015. Her responsibilities included HR generalist functions, recruitment, employee benefits, vendor management, learning and development, and HR reporting.
Ray began her professional career in customer-facing and training roles, working with American Express as an email servicing specialist and subject matter expert from 2004 to 2006, followed by a stint as a voice and accent coach and customer experience trainer at 24/7 Customer.
She holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management from XLRI Jamshedpur and a bachelor’s degree in Arts from the University of Delhi.
