on Tuesday announced the appointment of Sashikumar Sreedharan as its managing director for India. Sreedharan takes over from Bikram Singh Bedi, who helmed the tech giant’s cloud infrastructure arm in the country for about four and a half years.

Bedi will now assume regional strategic responsibilities, Google Cloud said in a statement.

In his new role, Sreedharan will lead Google Cloud’s go-to-market organisation in India, working with the company’s enterprise and digital native customers, partners, and the developer ecosystem as they build for an “AI-first future”, the statement said.

Sreedharan joined Google Cloud as chief operating officer for the Asia Pacific region in September 2023, based in Bengaluru. Prior to that, he was managing director of Microsoft India, leading its enterprise business. A technology industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, he earlier held leadership roles at SAP, IBM and other organisations in India.

Sreedharan’s appointment will “further propel our organisation and our customers to their next phase of growth in this crucial market,” said Karan Bajwa, president, Google Cloud, Asia Pacific.

“AI is poised to redefine India’s industries and supercharge the productivity and creativity of its vast talent pool,” Bajwa said, adding that the company is uniquely positioned to partner with Indian businesses and the public sector to harness AI's transformative power.

Google Cloud counts HDFC Bank, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Flipkart, Myntra, and Apollo 24/7 among its customers in India. It also partners with the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the Karmayogi platform, the Uttar Pradesh government, and others.

“I look forward to contributing to APAC's strategic priorities and watching India's continued success in this new chapter under Sashi’s leadership,” said Singh.

“My time as COO for APAC has deeply affirmed my belief in Google Cloud’s winning strategy and powerful AI-first platform,” said Sreedharan. “I am excited to return to the field and to work with our customers to advance their innovation agenda.”