Uber India and South Asia chief Amit Jain will now head the ride-hailing app’s operations in the Asia-Pacific, with his promotion to the post of general manager for the region announced on Monday. The firm said the elevation of the Indian leadership re-iterates the strategic importance of India and South Asia, which continue to be a priority for the world's most valuable startup.
In an email to TechCircle, an Uber India spokesperson said that “Jain will be stepping up to lead our ride-sharing operations as the new regional general manager for Asia-Pacific (covering Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, India, and others)â€, while continuing to head operations in India and South Asia.
Jain, currently president of Uber India and South Asia, had joined the ride-hailing firm from US-based Rent.com in mid-2015.
A software engineer from IIT-Delhi and an MBA degree holder from Stanford University, Jain served as president of Rent.com, an online listing venture for rental apartments, from January 2013 to mid-2015. During his tenure at Rent.com, Jain led all operational facets and achieved a successful turnaround of the organisation.
Before that, he held numerous executive positions at TPG Capital, Nexeo Solutions and McKinsey & Company.
Jain’s elevation comes six months after Jambu Palaniappan, a driving force behind the rapid international expansion of Uber, quit in November last year.
Palaniappan had led Uber’s expansion in India in 2013 and was the head of the world’s most-valued startup’s core transport business in Europe, West Asia (Middle East) and Africa, before becoming general manager for the online taxi service in Eastern Europe, West Asia and Africa from 2014 to mid-2016.
In June last year, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick resigned chief executive following a tumultuous six months of scandal. Kalanick, who stepped down in the face of pressure from Uber’s largest investors, was replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi.