The IBM Board of Directors has elected Indian-origin Arvind Krishna as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the tech giant. He has also been elected as a member of the Board of Directors, effective April 6, 2020. Krishna is currently IBM Senior Vice President for Cloud and Cognitive Software and was a principal architect of the company’s acquisition of Red Hat.
James Whitehurst, IBM Senior Vice President and CEO of Red Hat, was also elected by the Board as IBM President, effective April 6, 2020. Virginia Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and CEO, will continue as Executive Chairman of the Board and serve through the end of the year, when she will retire after almost 40 years with the company.
“I am thrilled and humbled to be elected as the next Chief Executive Officer of IBM, and appreciate the confidence that Ginni and the Board have placed in me,” said Krishna.
“IBM has such talented people and technology that we can bring together to help our clients solve their toughest problems. I am looking forward to working with IBMers, Red Hatters and clients around the world at this unique time of fast-paced change in the IT industry. We have great opportunities ahead to help our clients advance the transformation of their business while also remaining the global leader in the trusted stewardship of technology. Jim will be a great partner in the next step of this journey,” he said.
It is worth mentioning that Krishna, 57, leads the IBM business unit that provides the cloud and data platform on which IBM’s clients build the future. His current responsibilities also include the IBM Cloud, IBM Security and Cognitive Applications business, and IBM Research. Previously, he was general manager of IBM’s Systems and Technology Group’s development and manufacturing organization.
Prior to that, he built and led many of IBM’s data-related businesses. He has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and a PhD. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He joined IBM in 1990.
 of the tech giant. He has also been elected as a member of the Board of Directors, effective April 6, 2020. Krishna is currently IBM Senior Vice President for Cloud and Cognitive Software and was a principal architect of the company's acquisition of Red Hat.){kind=link}