Munesh Makhija has been appointed Managing Director, GE India Technology Center and Chief Technology Officer, GE India. Effective immediately, he takes over this role from Dr. Gopichand Katragadda who is leaving GE.
Munesh, who will be based at the John F. Welch Technology Centre in Bangalore, will lead GE’s R&D efforts in India and carry forward the technology legacy of the center, which is GE’s first and largest integrated multi-disciplinary Research and Development Centre. In his new role, he will lead a team of 5,300 technologists across GE’s centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai.
“At the GE India Technology Centre, we have the brightest minds at work pushing the limits of science and technology to solve some of the world's toughest problems in energy, healthcare, transportation, aviation, consumer and industrial domains. I’m very excited to be at the helm of this innovation hub and I look forward to working closely with the technology and commercial teams across GE businesses. My focus will be both on locally relevant innovation and delivering advanced technology to solve global challenges,” said Munesh Makhija.
In his career spanning over a decade at GE, Munesh has held various leadership positions. In his most recent assignment, he served as the Vice-President of Global Research at GE Healthcare. Prior to that, he was the Chief Technology Officer for GE Healthcare in India, where he drove product and technology innovation to support growth in India and global markets.
Under his leadership, the business launched 14 products, championed the cross-functional LiteSpeed New Product Introduction initiative, as well as created and enhanced strategic capabilities to drive holistic product development and co-creation with customers. Munesh joined GE in 2003 as an Engineering Director for GE Healthcare.
Prior to joining GE, Munesh was in the telecommunications industry for 10 years and held several positions in technology and research leadership, software engineering, new product development, programme management and product marketing. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and an MBA. He is GE Six Sigma Black Belt certified.
Congratulating Munesh on his new role, Mark Little, Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, GE, said, “We have witnessed the best of technologies emerging from the India centre in the past. Under Gopichand Katragadda’s leadership, we have successfully been able to position the GE India Technology Center as an asset for the company, developing technologies to improve the quality of life in India and the world. In his new role, Munesh will build on this foundation and drive growth by enhancing technical capability and increasing new product development.”
Banmali Agrawala, President & CEO, GE South Asia said, "We are proud to have Munesh lead the JFWTC, which is one of the largest innovation and technology development centers in India. These are exciting times for India and we are committed to developing technologies and solutions that are relevant both globally as well as locally. In the Indian context, it is critical that we leverage technology to find affordable solutions which eventually touch and impact lives of the people in a positive way. We are confident that given Munesh's experience, he will chart a new phase of growth for the JFWTC and GE.”