Samir Kumar is the new country director of Amazon India

Amazon India is set to undergo a significant leadership shake-up with Samir Kumar, a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience at the company, taking over as country manager on October 1, the e-commerce giant announced. The change comes after current Amazon India country manager Manish Tiwary decided to explore “new opportunities outside the company”, according to an internal communication from Amit Agarwal, senior vice president, emerging markets.

Who is Samir Kumar

Kumar’s journey with Amazon began in 1999, when he joined as a systems engineer when the company was valued at less than $1 billion. Over the years, he steadily climbed the ranks, eventually becoming a vice president, where he played a key role in expanding Amazon’s business into global markets.

Samir, who joined Amazon in 1999, was part of the original team that planned and launched Amazon.in in 2013. With this change, the current Amazon.in leadership team of Saurabh Srivastava (Categories), Harsh Goyal (Daily Essentials), Amit Nanda (Marketplace) and Aastha Jain (Growth Initiatives) will now report to Samir. Kishore Thota (Emerging Markets Shopping Experience) will report directly to Amit, the company said in a blog post.

Samir is working closely with Tiwary on the transition process and will take over operational responsibilities in India from October 1.

“I am deeply grateful for Manish’s leadership in leading Amazon.in to become the de facto starting point for Indians to buy and sell anything online. I wish him all the best in his next chapter,” Amit Agarwal, vice president, emerging markets, said in a statement.

“India remains a key priority for Amazon and I am very excited about the opportunity that lies ahead as we continue to transform lives and livelihoods. We have a strong local leadership bench and, together with Samir’s experience in emerging markets, I am even more optimistic about our future plans to serve customers and businesses in India,” Agarwal added.