AWS India and South Asia head Puneet Chandok to exit company

Vaishali Kasture, who currently heads enterprise, mid-market and global business at Amazon Web Services (AWS) India and South Asia, will take over as the interim leader, the source added.

The exit comes on the back of the Seattle-based tech giant committing to invest $12.7 billion in India by 2030.

Adam Selipsky, AWS’ newly appointed chief executive officer, told ET in an interaction that India remains a “bright spot” amid a period of unprecedented global uncertainty, where businesses are increasingly turning conservative. He added that there is significant scope for greater adoption of cloud computing by both Indian businesses and the government.

Also read | AWS CEO on $12.7 billion India investment, ChatGPT challenge, and how cloud tech will enable $5 trillion economy goal

In April, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky told analysts that growth from AWS, the company’s cloud business, would slow further as business customers braced for turbulence and cut spending.

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ET also reported on May 17 that Amazon is firing employees working in AWS in India as part of the additional layoffs CEO Andy Jassy had announced in late March, impacting about 9,000 employees globally.TechCrunch was first to report the development.

For Amazon, AWS is a cash cow. The division generated $5.2 billion in operating income for the quarter ended December, almost double the profit for the full company.

Amazon has also conducted layoffs and restructuring in India. It shut down various experiments, including food delivery, edtech and its wholesale businesses.

The Jeff Bezos-backed company, which has completed 10 years in India, is committed to its long-term plans for the country. Manish Tiwary, the company’s India head for consumer business, told ET in an interaction on Monday that Amazon is optimistic and committed to the Indian market despite the “ups and downs” it has faced here.

Tiwary said the AWS investment is a reflection of Amazon’s commitment to India and not indicative of the focus shifting away from ecommerce.