LinkedIn appoints sales veteran Ashutosh Gupta as country manager for India

Ashutosh Gupta has two decades of experience in the internet and IT and software services industries.

LinkedIn, the professional social networking company, on Monday announced Ashutosh Gupta as its new country manager for India. 

Gupta, who is an alumnus of IIM-Lucknow and IIT (BHU), Varanasi, is an experienced sales leader. He has two decades of experience in the internet and IT and software services industries and he has worked at firms such as Infosys, Cognizant and Google.

He joined LinkedIn in 2013 to lead LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions (LMS) in India, where he scaled up the enterprise business. In 2016, he moved to Singapore to build LMS’s online sales organisation (OSO) for Asia Pacific and China (APAC).

“India is a strategic market for LinkedIn, and its developing economy and dynamic jobs market is ripe with opportunity for LinkedIn to add value for our members and customers,” said Gupta, who is in his forties.

“I also look forward to forging deeper government relationships to inform policy-making with actionable data on jobs and skills, and make LinkedIn an integral part of the national agenda. I am excited and humbled to take on the role of Country Manager to drive LinkedIn India into its new decade,” said Gupta, who will relocate to India from Singapore.

Gupta, who will take over his new role in September, will report to Olivier Legrand, LinkedIn’s managing director for the Asia Pacific region. In addition to his country manager role, he will continue to lead the LMS Online Sales Organization for APAC and China.

“I am confident that Ashutosh’s (Gupta) strong understanding of the company’s business, his seasoned leadership experience, and deep market experience will drive forward the right strategic plans for India,” said Legrand.

“As a sophisticated sales leader who has worked across regions, Ashutosh (Gupta) is highly skilled at building businesses at scale and evangelising the value of LinkedIn to members and customers. We look forward to partnering with him to foster the India brand,” said Legrand.

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has over 630 million users globally and more than 57 million members in India. Gupta replaces Mahesh Narayanan, who was LinkedIn’s country manager for India from January 2019 to June 2019.