Walgreens India has appointed Siva Kumar Padmanabhan as Vice President and General Manager, with responsibility for establishing and scaling the company’s operations in India.
Padmanabhan joins Walgreens after more than 12 years at AstraZeneca, where he served as Managing Director of AstraZeneca India and Vice President, Enterprise Capabilities & Solutions, Global IT. He provided leadership for the company’s Global Innovation & Technology Centre in Chennai and its Bengaluru hub, together employing close to 5,000 professionals. He also led global enterprise platforms and digital capabilities, including initiatives supporting AI, automation and software engineering.
Before AstraZeneca, Padmanabhan was Vice President of IT at Flex, where he led global customer-facing IT and digital capabilities and headed the company’s IT Global In-house Centres in Chennai and Pune. His earlier experience includes leadership roles at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), where he headed the Consumer Products practice globally, and Infosys, where he worked in business transformation and supply chain services.
Walgreens Officially Establishes India Operations and GCC in Chennai
The appointment follows Walgreens’ official inauguration of its India operations in Chennai, marking the launch of Walgreens India and the establishment of its Global Capability Centre in Tamil Nadu.
The new centre will strengthen capabilities supporting Walgreens’ customers and patients, with a focus on technology and transformation. The inauguration was attended by Abhi Dhar, CIO, Walgreens, alongside partners including Tata Consultancy Services, EY, Table Space and JLL India.
The development follows Walgreens India Private Limited’s MoU with the Government of Tamil Nadu to establish the centre at DLF Downtown, Taramani, Chennai. The proposed facility is expected to create more than 250 jobs in its first year, with further expansion planned.
Padmanabhan’s experience in establishing capability centres, leading large technology teams and managing global operations comes as Walgreens builds its India organisation and develops Chennai as a base for its global operations.
