Source: livemint.com (original report, June 2020)
Google Cloud Strengthens India Leadership Team
Google Cloud announced in June 2020 the appointment of Anil Valluri as Senior Director of Google Cloud in India. Valluri joins from NetApp, where he served as President of India & SAARC operations, bringing more than 30 years of experience in sales and marketing across the technology industry.
The appointment followed Google Cloud’s March 2020 hire of Karan Bajwa — former head of IBM India — as Managing Director of Google Cloud India. Together, the two executives form a senior leadership pairing aimed at accelerating Google Cloud’s enterprise penetration in one of the world’s fastest-growing technology markets.
Valluri’s Background and Industry Experience
Before joining Google Cloud, Anil Valluri held a series of senior roles across the technology sector:
- NetApp – President, India & SAARC operations
- Artiman Ventures – Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Bay Area-based venture capital firm specializing in white-space investments
- Sun Microsystems India – Vice President and Managing Director
Throughout his career, Valluri has led technology transitions for enterprise customers across banking, telecommunications, public sector, and manufacturing in India — sectors that are now among the primary targets for cloud adoption.
“Anil has led some of the biggest technology MNCs in India and his experience will be invaluable as we continue our charter to help companies solve their most complex business and technology challenges.”
— Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Google Cloud India
“Cloud is the next big transition in the technology industry and Google has been making major strides in this space. I’m excited for this new opportunity to help businesses of all sizes in India succeed in this rapidly digitizing economy.”
— Anil Valluri, Senior Director, Google Cloud India
Google Cloud’s India Growth Strategy
The executive appointments are part of a broader India growth strategy. Despite disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Google Cloud publicly committed to expanding hiring and investment across India and the wider Asia-Pacific region through 2020.
A key infrastructure milestone accompanied this strategy: Google Cloud announced a second cloud region in India, complementing eight existing regions across Asia Pacific. Additional regional presence reduces latency for Indian customers and addresses data residency requirements that are increasingly important for regulated industries such as banking and government.
Google Cloud’s stated objective is to become the preferred cloud ecosystem for both large enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in India — a segment where Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have established a considerable first-mover advantage.
Cloud Market Context: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud
At the time of this announcement (Q1 2020), the global cloud infrastructure market was experiencing strong growth as enterprises accelerated remote-work adoption and digital transformation initiatives in response to the pandemic. According to figures reported by the companies following their Q1 2020 earnings:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) led the market with approximately 32% global share
- Microsoft Azure held approximately 17% global share
- Google Cloud and Alibaba Cloud each held approximately 6% global share
Google Cloud’s leadership investments in India reflect an effort to close this gap in a high-growth market, particularly as Indian enterprises across finance, manufacturing, and the public sector increase cloud adoption. The combination of infrastructure investment — in the form of expanded regional availability — and experienced local leadership is central to Google Cloud’s competitive response to the dominant positions held by AWS and Azure.
Why India Matters for Cloud Providers
India represents one of the largest untapped enterprise cloud markets globally, driven by several factors:
- A large and growing SMB sector undergoing digital transformation
- Government-led digitization initiatives across public services and infrastructure
- A rapidly expanding technology startup ecosystem
- Increasing demand for data analytics, machine learning, and AI workloads
- Tightening data localization regulations that favor cloud providers with in-country infrastructure
For Google Cloud, hiring executives with deep roots in the Indian enterprise technology landscape — rather than relying solely on global leadership — signals a recognition that local relationships, industry knowledge, and sales execution are as important as infrastructure investment when competing in this market.