'Fighter' Balkrishan 'BK' Kalra braces for new innings as Genpact CEO

Internally, Kalra is recognized for his track record of building talented and diverse teams, igniting passion, and driving transformation for clients

Global professional services firm Genpact on Wednesday announced that Balkrishan ‘BK’ Kalra, will succeed N V ‘Tiger’ Tyagarajan as the third chief executive officer (CEO) of Genpact, effective February 2024.

Part of the seed team that founded Genpact, Kalra has been helping companies grow from idea conceptualisation into large globally competitive enterprises for over two decades. He currently serves as global business leader, financial services, consumer, and health care at the company.

Since joining Genpact in 1999, Kalra has served in a variety of leadership roles overseeing operations across consumer goods, retail, and life sciences verticals at the company. He has also served as the global operational leader for banking and insurance at General Electric.

“In planning for Tiger’s retirement, the board undertook a robust process, assessing several internal and external candidates. In the end, BK stood out as the natural successor. He understands the importance of investing in emerging trends and technologies with a particular focus on Genpact’s efforts around advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled solutions. BK’s strategic vision and deep understanding of our clients and business is exactly what Genpact needs as we enter this new chapter,” said James Madden, chairman of Genpact’s board of directors.

Internally, Kalra is recognised for his track record of building talented and diverse teams, igniting passion, and driving transformation for clients.

According to Genpact, Kalra has helped some of the biggest brands in the world to succeed in their transformation journeys.

“BK has been an integral part of Genpact’s success, and I am confident that, under his leadership, we are well positioned for the next phase of our journey and future growth,” Tyagarajan said.

A certified Lean 6 Sigma Black Belt with a master of business administration in finance, Kalra may need to fight the current macroeconomic challenges as he takes over the top position of the professional services firm.

According to the New York Stock Exchange-listed company’s financial results for the third quarter of this calendar year, its revenue from data-tech-AI services was $500 million, down 2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), both on an as-reported and constant currency basis.

The firm has cautioned against increasing pressure in short-cycle advisory and other project work, as customers limited their spending on cost optimisation-related large transformation deals. Its total revenue for the quarter stood at $1.14 billion, up 2 per cent Y-o-Y.

“With an immensely talented workforce and a deep history of developing innovative solutions for our clients, Genpact has a unique opportunity to lead our industry. I look forward to working closely with the board and our leadership team to accelerate a new chapter of growth for Genpact, one with technology at the forefront of everything we do to unlock tremendous potential for our clients, employees, and shareholders alike,” Kalra said.