C.B. Velayuthan
CEO, Digital Connexion
C.B. Velayuthan is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Digital Connexion, a joint venture among Brookfield Asset Management, Reliance Industries Limited and Digital Realty. His vision is to position the company as a market leader in India’s data centre landscape. This includes developing a strong and scalable platform to meet the growing demand for data, connectivity and interconnectivity solutions.
With a career spanning across the global leadership roles, Velayuthan has a wealth of experience. Prior to his current role, he served as the global managing director of strategic alliances at Equinix. In the past, he also worked at Nokia, where he led global sales, established a partner business unit and successfully helped the technology vendor to build their network infrastructure.
As the CEO of Digital Connexion, he takes the lead in driving the company’s data centre platform expansion, cultivating a robust partnership ecosystem and ensuring that their infrastructure meets the highest levels of reliability and scalability. He believes in prioritising the company’s core values of putting the customer first, creating a sense of urgency, while ensuring fun at work. According to him, “These values drive the company’s dedication to providing dependable, efficient, and customer-centric solutions, allowing them to stay ahead in a rapidly changing market.”
Regarding future business prospects, he says that the company has plans to go beyond meeting the current needs by anticipating future requirements and further positioning itself at the forefront of India’s digital transformation.
Velayuthan believes that factors such as increased data consumption, growing 5G adoption, and integration of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, will drive India’s digital economy. “While the past decade has witnessed the telecom revolution, this one will be defined by digital transformation. This shift is transforming all businesses, with early adopters driving innovation and efficiency, promising remarkable progress in India’s ‘decade of data’ journey”, he adds.
Velayuthan describes his management style as collaborative and result-oriented, with an emphasis on open communication, empowerment and accountability. He holds master of business administration (MBA) in global business from the Helsinki School of Economics and an undergraduate degree from Bharathiyar University, giving him a global perspective as well as technical expertise. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing golf and long-distance running. He also serves as the president of the First Robotics team in California, to support youth in learning and designing robots.
