Walmart India CEO, Krish Iyer - A Profile

Global retail giant Walmart has named Krish Iyer as president and CEO of its India operations. Iyer, will replace interim CEO Ramnik Narsey and report to Asia regional president and CEO Scott Price as per reports. Iyer joined Walmart International as a senior vice president in 2012 and his LinkedIn profile says he was last posted in Tokyo on a special project with Walmart Japan/Seiyu G.K.

 

A chartered accountant by profession, Iyer is a commerce and economics graduate from Mumbai University. Prior to joining Walmart he spent 6 years with the A.S. Watson Group, an international health, beauty and lifestyle retailer. His last 7 month stint at AS Watson was as MD – Thailand & Phillipines & RD – Business Development & Store Design. He was also CEO – Retail Business & Managing Director of Piramyd Retail where he spent 7.5 years. He started out as Executive Director and CEO of the Company in April 1999, successfully concluding an IPO in December 2005.

 

According to a 2006 Business Today snippet on the man “Iyer wandered into retail when he was asked by the Piramals to study the viability of setting up a mall, which became the famous Mumbai landmark, Crossroads.” He was quoted as saying he had ‘great memories’ of the Piramyd job and with his shift to Watson as managing director-India, planned to "transform the retail experience for Indian consumers".

 

Now that didn't exactly go as per plan with Watson canning its India entry in 2007 on account of restrictive FDI rules.But let’s see if Iyer weaves some magic on the Indian consumer with his latest stint as Wal-Mart's India chief.