Mandar Kulkarni

About Mandar Kulkarni

Industry Expert in the areas of Cloud, Cybersecurity, Hybrid + Edge, Artificial Intelligence, Datacenter, IT Service Management and DR/BCP. Have played key roles in large organizations in India and overseas across various functional areas - Strategy and Planning, Consulting, Product Development & Management, Engineering and Technology leadership, Solution Architecting, Business Development, Partner Ecosystem development, etc. Over last 25 years, been focused on making India Cloud First nation leading the digital transformation across Industry verticals. Worked on designing, building, delivering, operating, partnering and promoting cloud services across almost ALL of the key Cloud providers in India - Microsoft, Jio Platforms, Netmagic / NTT, Tata Communications, etc. Key achievements include building of Microsoft’s cloud services in India, including rolling out of new datacenters, Azure, Office365 and Dynamics CRM, helping Indian cloud and datacenter players like Netmagic / NTT and Tata Communications build large Cloud, Datacenter and Managed Services businesses. Currently National Security Officer at Microsoft India and South Asia responsible for engaging with government, regulators, customers and partners on the security, privacy and resilience ofthe Microsoft platform and services and helping them keep country Cybersafe. In the past, Led Customer Success at Microsoft for Manufacturing and Conglomerate customers. Have also led Partner Technology, Cloud Infrastructure and Hybrid Cloud business for India. Before rejoining Microsoft, I was Chief Product Officer at Jio Platforms Ltd. where I led building of India\'s largest and most advanced portfolio of local Cloud portfolio across Cloud, Edge, CloudPC, managed services and SaaS solution / marketplace. Earlier assignment include Senior Vice President at Netmagic Solutions, member of NTT Communications group, transforming growth in cloud, datacenter and IT services organizations like Tata Communications, CyberTech / Corliant (acquired by Accenture), Indian Express, etc.My key areas of strengths are creating new services and a scalable organization to support these services and their growth, deep understanding of IT processes, customer focus and strong emphasis on automation. Have been speaker on Cloud, Cybersecurity, Hybrid, DR, IT Service Management and automation in India, and management institutions like SP Jain Institute of Management and Research. He has also authored many white papers and articles in these areas.

Experience

1. National Security Officer

   Microsoft

   May 2024 — Present · Mumbai, IN

   As National Security Officer, I work with National Cybersecurity agencies to build capabilities to be at the national level cyber-safe and resilient, as well as prepare for the next generation of attacks and effectively mitigate current threats. I also lead Microsoft’s local compliance and certification strategy for Cloud and AI. My charter is to keep the country, citizens, customers and company safe working closely with Cybersecurity, Cyber defense, Cybercrime and regulatory ecosystem in India and South Asia to enhance both technology and policy framework of these agencies. Key responsibility is to establish the trust of key national stakeholders in Microsoft\'s security agenda. Leverage Secure Future Initiative of Microsoft to support country\'s security related agencies to build the capabilities to be at national level cyber safe. Also, to lead the local risk management, compliance and certification strategy and execution for Microsoft cloud services, in PS and regulated industries. Build and develop effective skilling platforms to increase local cybersecurity compliance skills and support field sales in prioritized Industries addressing regulation related customer requirements.

Education

• Texas McCombs School of Business

  Post Graduate Program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

  2019 — 2020

• Intenational Certifications

  Cloud, Datacenter, Security and IT Service Management

• Savitribai Phule Pune University

  BE, Electronic

  1992 — 1995

• BTE, Mumbai

  Diploma in ET&T, Electronics and Telecommunications

  1989 — 1992

• Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

  EPBM, Management

  2006 — 2007

• The Wharton School

  Executive Education, Executing Growth Strategies

  2014 — 2014

Skills

• Oracle
• Cloud Computing
• Vendor Management
• Pre-Sales
• Infrastructure
• Service Delivery
• Pmp
• Leadership
• Risk Management
• Team Management
• IT Service Management
• Project Management
• Networking
• Management
• Information Technology
• Disaster Recovery
• Software Project Management
• Itil
• Solution Architecture
• Business Alliances
• Product Management
• Infrastructure Management
• Telecommunications
• Enterprise Software
• Managed Services
• Integration
• Business Process
• Outsourcing
• Data Center
• Go-to-Market Strategy
• Storage
• Strategy
• IT Strategy