Bharti Group CIO Jai Menon steps down

Reports of financial irregularities are being linked to his exit from the company

Bharti Enterprises Chief Information Officer (CIO) Jai Menon on Friday said he had quit his post, as he wanted to go back to research and innovation of new technologies and intellectual property (IP). Sources, however, said he had been sacked for alleged violation of the company’s code of conduct. But Menon has denied this.

“These are purely speculative and baseless,” Menon said, responding to the allegations. Menon has worked with Bharti Enterprises, the parent company of Bharti Airtel, which is the largest telecom operators in India by subscriber base. Menon had his last day at Bharti on Tuesday. A spokesperson at Bharti confirmed Menon’s exit from the company, but declined to give any details.

Menon, who turns 50 in January, said he would like to decide his future course of action over the next quarter. He joined Bharti Airtel in 2002 as CIO and corporate director for information technology. He became the group CIO in 2007.

“The exit is part of my plan. In January, I will be turning 50 and want to pursue research and innovation in technology. I spent the past decade in the consumption side of the business. Now, I want to get back to the creation and development side of the industry, something I had done in my thirties when I was in the US. But, this time, I want to do this in India, as part of my plan to contribute to the country I belong to,” Menon told Business Standard , when asked about the reason for his exit.

Menon, who is a graduate from IIT Delhi and an alumnus of Cornell University in the US, started his career IBM’s TJ Watson Research Labs in the US and became executive director of IBM’s software group. He has also worked with AT&T in the US as its chief technology officer for IT across all lines of businesses.