Hyderabad: Automotive retail software provider CDK Global has named Hyderabad-native tech veteran Sudhakar Ramakrishna as president and CEO, effective Oct 5, and appointed him to the company’s board of directors.Ramakrishna succeeds Brian MacDonald, who will retire from the CEO role and remain involved during the transition as a senior strategic adviser to Brookfield and CDK Global, providing continuity and perspective as leadership responsibilities shift to Ramakrishna, the company said.Ramakrishna, who pursued his engineering education at Hyderabad’s Osmania University, brings decades of experience across enterprise technology, cloud, networking and cybersecurity. He most recently served as president and CEO of SolarWinds, a leading provider of infrastructure management software, and previously led Pulse Secure, where he worked closely with customers and partners in complex, mission-critical environments. He also held senior leadership roles at Citrix, Polycom, Motorola, 3Com and US Robotics.The appointment places Ramakrishna at the helm of a company that supplies technology used by automotive retailers to manage key dealership operations. CDK’s software and related services support processes across the retail automotive sector, where dealerships rely on digital platforms to connect sales, service, parts and administrative functions.CDK Global said the leadership change is part of a planned transition. MacDonald’s advisory role is intended to help maintain stability while Ramakrishna joins the board and takes over day-to-day executive leadership.As president and CEO, Ramakrishna will be responsible for guiding CDK Global’s strategy, operations and engagement with automotive retailers and partners. His board seat also gives him a formal role in corporate governance as the company moves into its next phase under new leadership.
