Cyrus Mistry aide Madhu Kannan joins Uber

Kannan will be responsible for growing Uber's business in India and across Asia Pacific region

A little over three months after Cyrus Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons, his close aide in the group Madhu Kannan, 42, is joining San Francisco-based taxi aggregator company Uber as its chief business officer, India and emerging markets. Kannan was part of a core team — group executive council (GEC) — at Tata Sons. The GEC was dismantled after Mistry was removed in a boardroom coup on October 24 last year. 

On Thursday, Uber confirmed in a blog that Kannan was joining the organisation on Friday (February 3). As a key member of Uber’s regional leadership team, Kannan will be responsible for growing Uber's business in India as well as across new emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region, through strategic partnerships and investment opportunities, the company said. Before Tata Sons, he was the CEO of the BSE. 

When contacted by Business Standard, Kannan refused to comment. But, in the blog where his appointment was announced, he said, “Uber is one of the most dynamic and innovative organisations of my generation, and I look at this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with a group of highly talented and motivated people who are changing the face of mobility.”