8K Miles names Sujatha Chandrasekaran to its Board of Directors

8K Miles has announced the appointment of an additional member to its Board of Directors, Sujatha Chandrasekaran, Global CIO of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, former SVP and Global Chief Technology and Data Officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and former VP and CTO of PepsiCo.

Prior to joining as a new board member of 8K Miles, Suja served on the board of the Symphony Technology Group Portfolio Companies. Suja has earned a number of awards for her work, including being featured as “Top 10 Women in Tech” by Chain Store Age, Digital Visionary in Consumer Goods by CGT,  “Top 10 Leaders of Digital and Technology” by the Financial Times, and Top 50 Diverse Executives by Diversity MBA Magazine.

“We are pleased to welcome Suja to our Board of Directors. She brings tremendous credibility and vast experience as Global CIO and Chief Digital Officer of multiple large enterprises. Her addition to the Board will help broaden 8K Miles’ business opportunities and improve strategic vision on global markets of Cloud, SaaS, mobility, IoT, security, compliance, and identity management areas, as the company continues to grow both organically and through M&As,” said Suresh Venkatachari, CEO & Managing Director, 8K Miles Software Services.

“Suja has varied experience and successful business acumen.  Inclusion of her in the Board will enhance the company’s product innovation, Digital Growth and customer reach. I wish her all the best,” said R. S. Ramani, CFO & Whole-Time Director.

“I’m excited to join 8K Miles’ Board at the crucial time of the company’s growth. I look forward to contributing to the enterprise business growth strategy and making an impact on the success of the company’s next phase,” said Suja Chandrasekaran, Global CIO, Kimberly-Clark.

Suja brings more than 20 years of experience in technology and leadership roles in both the consumer goods and retail industries, including some of the world’s greatest retail and consumer goods organizations. Currently, she is serving as the Global CIO for Kimberly-Clark Corporation, where she is leveraging her strong track record of leading technology and digital organizations to deliver significant value to Kimberly-Clark and its customers. With its well-known brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark products are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries.

Suja recently transitioned from serving as SVP, Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief Data Officer at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the Fortune 1 Company in the world. She has led technology and data transformation for Wal-Mart US, Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart International. Prior to that, she has served as Global Chief Information Officer of The Timberland Company, where she was accountable for the Footwear, Apparel & Accessories retailer’s technology, ecommerce and digital transformation. As the VP and Chief Technology Officer of PepsiCo North America, Chandrasekaran led the company’s digital and technology strategy and delivery for its business units including Frito Lay, Pepsi Beverages, Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade and Pepsi Bottling. As the CIO of Transformation, for Nestle Americas, Chandrasekaran led the world’s largest food & beverage company’s business transformation initiatives including business process, technology and data transformation for the company’s Global Business Excellence (GLOBE) across Nestle Americas.

Suja has executive development education from London Business School and earned her Master of Business Systems at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the University of Madras, India.  Temple University’s FOX School of Business awarded her the IT Leader of the Year Award in 2013 for her accomplishments in global digital leadership as a big data and advanced analytics leader and practitioner. She has been named as one of Top 10 Digital & Technology Leaders in the United States by the  Financial Times, which also nominated Suja Chandrasekaran for board of director memberships of several public companies. Other honours include being named as one of the Top 50 Diverse Executives of 2014 by Diversity MBA Magazine, and as one of the world’s most “ICONIC” Women Leaders in Technology by Interop, InformationWeek, India