BS People: Vinod Kumar

Playing the next chukkar at home

Speed and agility are what Vinod Kumar considers his management style. These are traits that he would have picked up from his favourite sports — polo and skiing. It is no surprise that he is associated with several fast-growth organisations.

Based out of Singapore, Kumar also has the responsibility of managing the international operations of Tata Communications, a significant role as the company changed its business line from international long-distance calls to submarine cables.

This 45-year-old, who would become one of the youngest CEOs of the Tata group, is not new to such major responsibility at a young age.

At 32, he was entrusted with the task of managing 600 people at WorldCom. In addition, he had to handle the challenge of building credibility in a tough market like Japan with demanding customers, as it was the first foreign telecom carrier in Japan.

Kumar had yet another learning experience at IP solutions provider Asia Global Crossing from bankruptcy to profitability, where he was actively involved in all aspects of the financial restructuring. The asset was eventually sold to China Netcom.

This honors electrical and electronic engineering graduate from Birla Institute of Technology and Science feels his new position of MD and CEO at Tata Communications has its set of challenges to maintain and accelerate its growth!