Aadesh Goyal

Executive VP & CHRO, Tata Communications Ltd.

Aadesh is an industry veteran and a global business leader with experience in P&L Management, Human Resources, Software Engineering, Operations, Product Management, Information Technology, Corporate Communication and Program Management. He has performed global roles spread over 5 continents.

He is considered as a thought leader in Human Resources, and was instrumental in designing and implementing various practices and systems, that became the benchmark of the IT industry in the 90s and enabled Hughes Software Systems (later Flextronics Software Systems, and now Aricent Technologies), a public company, to have an excellent brand as an employer and be amongst the Best Employers several times. He has significant experience in transformation, change and digital transformation.

Aadesh has been involved in more than a dozen M&A as well as played a key role in the integration of these companies spread across multiple countries. Since 2010, he is the Executive Vice President and the CHRO at Tata Communications, a leading global provider of a new world of communications, with employees in 40 countries and customers in 200 countries. In the last four years, Tata Communications has been rated as a 'Best Employer' and 'Great Place To Work' multiple times in several countries including Canada, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore. The company has also been rated as a Best Employer for Women.

As a Member of the Global Management Committee of Tata Communications, he is keenly involved in the development of the strategy of the company. He is also the Chief Ethics Officer of the company. He also has a business responsibility for Tata Communications Payment Solutions Limited, and serves as its Chairman. He is also a Director on the Board of Tata Communications Transformation Services Limited. In addition, he is also the global head for Environment, Occupational Health and Safety as well as Corporate Social Responsibility and Administration.

He was an angel investor and Director on the Board of PeopleStrong HR Services and then served as the Chairman and CEO during 2008-09. Aadesh has been an investor as well as Advisor and Board Director in multiple start-up companies. Prior to this, Aadesh worked with Hughes Software Systems for 16 years where he had joined as a part of the start-up team. He was also a Director on the Board of this public listed company. He played several roles including Global Head of HR, CEO of its BPO Business, Head of the Software Engineering Centre (leading a team of 3000 engineers), Product Manager for Soft Switch, led IT as the CIO and Corporate Communication.

He was also the Chief Ethics Officer at Hughes Software Systems and a Member of the Global Compliance Committee, and played a key role in developing the culture, which became one of biggest strengths of the company. After completing a Master's degree in Management from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Aadesh joined Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) which helped create a strong platform in the Indian telecom sector, and helped seed the telecom revolution. He started as an executive assistant to Sam Pitroda and later performed roles in Human Resources and Partner Program.

Over the last 20 years, Aadesh has been an active volunteer in a variety of roles. These include industry associations like Confederation of Indian Industry, National Association of Software Companies, and National HRD Network and involved in various roles including Task Forces. He has also served on the Boards/Advisory Boards of several educational institutes including Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology, Delhi School of Economics (MHROD) and Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management. He is a member of the Advisory Board of World Forum for Ethics in Business that's headquartered in Brussels.

Aadesh has a passion for community service and has been an active volunteer with The Art of Living since 2000. He has been involved in several community projects, served in several administrative capacities, and organized large events attended by more than 100,000 people. As a Trustee of Sri Sri Ayurveda from 2012 to 2017, he was keenly involved in the propagation of Aryuveda as wholistic life style system as well as for medical purposes. He is also an International Teacher of the Happiness Program of Art of Living that includes Yoga. He was the Co-chairperson of the Global Leadership Forum, an international conference held in Delhi in 2016 which had 3500 delegates and 100+ speakers including 35 Heads of State (present and former).

He has won several awards - In 1991-92, received the 'Great Contribution Award' from the Union Minister of Communications for contribution towards the success of the C-DOT Mission;
Was featured on the cover of Business Today magazine in 1999;
Received the Top5-CIO Award by the CIO Magazine in 2001 for being the best in Innovative use of Information Technology for Human Resource Development;
Was featured on the cover of CIO magazine in 2001;
Was awarded and recognized as the Best HR Head in India by National HRD Network in 2002;
Was chosen by HSS employees for various awards.

Aadesh lives in Delhi with his wife. His children live and work in the US.