Suresh Rathod
President, Colocation, CtrlS Datacenters
Suresh Rathod is a telecom veteran with over 30 years of experience in the sector. In the past, he has been associated with BPL Telecom and Reliance Communications (RCOM), before joining CtrlS Datacenters a decade ago in 2011. He currently serves as president of the collocation vertical at CtrlS Datacenters and is responsible for overseeing business expansion, managing hyperscale and large enterprises, as well as identifying new markets both within India as well as globally. His role encompasses formulating marketing strategies aimed at driving growth, with a clear vision to position the country as a global hub for data centres within the next two to three years. Rathod’s leadership has been crucial in shaping the company’s growth trajectory and establishing CtrlS as a key player on the global stage.
In the past too, he has played a pivotal role at RCOM, where he was involved in expanding telecom density and proliferating enterprise services across India. He worked with the telco from 2002 to 2011 and was responsible for launching mobile services, and ensuring the widespread adoption of next-generation telecom solutions.
Reflecting on his accomplishments, Rathod notes that one of his greatest challenges was rolling out RCOM’s telecom network in South and South-Central Mumbai within just six months. “We completed the project successfully with the learning that challenges always bring the best out of us,” he adds.
In the past decade, earning the trust of global customers and bringing them to believe in India’s data centre story has been his biggest achievement. “It was challenging but very fulfilling,” he shares.
As for his management style, Rathod believes in developing teams by delegating responsibility and tasks, and taking continuous feedback till the tasks are accomplished. He feels that this approach was instrumental in transforming two of the companies that he has been associated with, into major players.
He has played a pivotal role in CtrlS business expansion, from a humble one-city data centre entity to having a multicity presence with hundreds of megawatts in capacity. Looking ahead, he sees exciting growth opportunities with the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology.
Rathod holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Mumbai University and a master’s degree in business administration from Symbiosis, Pune. He is spiritually inclined and outside work he is actively involved in philanthropic activities such as developing cow shelters, helping students with career planning, and supporting the downtrodden.
