New Delhi: NIIT Limited, a prominent skills and talent development company, has announced the appointment of Pankaj Jathar as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective from today. Jathar takes over from Sapnesh Lalla, who will continue to serve as a non-executive director at NIIT Ltd while also maintaining his role as CEO of NIIT Learning Systems (NIIT MTS).
NIIT has been at the forefront of technology-driven learning solutions well before “Edtech” became a household term. With the 2023 demerger, NIIT Limited is now dedicated to India’s growing skills and careers sector. Jathar, with his rich background in consumer-centric businesses including e-commerce, startups, and direct-to-consumer ventures, is expected to further cement NIIT’s leadership in the field. He plans to leverage GenAI to drive innovation and growth.
Jathar brings over 25 years of experience from leading global companies in e-commerce, consulting, technology solutions, the training industry, business development, and governance. His career began as a Management Trainee at NIIT, followed by four years at Tata Interactive Systems in London.
He then joined Accenture as a solution architect, developing IT solutions for the banking and finance sector. He was part of the launch team for Amazon India, managed the FMCG division at Cloudtail, and became CEO of Prione (Amazon’s joint venture with Catamaran) in 2020, experiencing firsthand the rapid growth of e-commerce in India over the past 13 years.
“We are thrilled to welcome Pankaj Jathar back to the NIIT family,” said Rajendra S. Pawar, Chairman and Co-founder of NIIT Limited. “His vast experience and expertise in technology-driven industries make him the ideal leader for NIIT Ltd. With his guidance, we are committed to nurturing talent for the nation and advancing our vision of excellence at NIIT.”
On his appointment, Jathar remarked, “I am honored to return to NIIT Ltd. and contribute to its steadfast commitment to education and technology. I look forward to collaborating with the talented team at NIIT to build on our strengths, seize emerging opportunities, and unlock the full potential of our learners and partners.”
Jathar holds a BE from Pune University, a GNIIT from Pune, and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, completed in 1998.
Notably, founded in 1981, NIIT Ltd. is a leading skills and talent development corporation dedicated to addressing human resource challenges in the emerging IT industry.
In 2006, NIIT established the Institute for Finance, Banking, and Insurance (IFBI), India’s premier banking training institute, to meet the manpower needs of the BFSI sector.
Today, NIIT is one of the world’s leading training organizations, offering a broad array of talent development programs to millions of individual and corporate learners. Its diverse range of programs spans futuristic domains through businesses such as NIIT Digital, StackRoute, RPS Consulting, IFBI, TPaaS, and Sales & Service Excellence (SSE).
