Microsoft has announced the appointment of Vaishali Kasture, a former Amazon Web Services (AWS) executive, as the new General Manager of its Small, Medium, and Corporate (SMC) business in India and South Asia. This strategic move is aimed at strengthening Microsoft’s position in the competitive cloud computing market and supporting its expansion plans in the region.
In a LinkedIn post, Kasture expressed her enthusiasm about the new role, stating, “I cannot think of a better time to take up the role as GM for the SMC business in India and South Asia. At a time when corporates and SMBs are harnessing the power of technology for everything from Cloud to AI, data to security, enriching every workflow with Gen AI as the go-to tool for productivity uplift, Microsoft is singularly positioned as a full-service technology company focussing on end-to-end technology stack.”
The appointment was officially announced in an email to Microsoft employees by Puneet Chandok, head of Microsoft India and South Asia. Chandok welcomed Kasture with high expectations, noting, “I am delighted to welcome Vaishali Kasture as the SMC lead for India and South Asia. SMC is at the heart of India’s digital transformation journey and Vaishali joins us at a pivotal moment as we build AI for everyone and copilot India & South Asia’s AI transformation.”
Kasture, an alumnus of Mumbai’s Sydenham College of Commerce and Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, brings over 25 years of experience across corporate and investment banking, credit, outsourcing, and technology. Her previous roles include significant positions at Deloitte, CitiBank, and Goldman Sachs. At AWS, she was instrumental in setting up the independent software vendors (ISV) segment and leading the digital native and enterprise segments. She stepped down as the interim country head of AWS India in December last year.
Kasture’s appointment marks the second time in a year that Microsoft has recruited an executive from AWS India, following the hiring of ex-AWS India head Puneet Chandok as Corporate Vice President of Microsoft India and South Asia in June last year.
This move is part of Microsoft’s broader strategy to enhance its presence in the Indian cloud market, which is expected to reach a size of $24.2 billion by 2028. The company plans to bolster its operations with a substantial investment of INR 15,000 crore in establishing its largest data center in Hyderabad over the next 15 years.