Avinash Vashistha is Chairman and GU Managing Director for Accenture in India. In this role, he is responsible for all Accenture activities in India and for the strategic direction, growth and development of the company’s business in this geography.

Before joining Accenture in January 2011, Avinash was Chairman and CEO of Tholons, a global strategic advisory firm for globalization research, outsourcing, investment and education serving Fortune 500 and Global 1000 clients. Earlier in his career, he founded neoIT, an offshore advisory firm, and prior to that, led Nortel’s pioneering R&D globalization efforts in US, UK and India.

He started his career with AT&T Bell Labs, USA and later ran European operations for Nortel Networks based out of UK. He is a pioneer in globalization and was instrumental in growth of the IT and BPO industry in US, India, Philippines, Eastern Europe and Latin America. He is a known thought leader in the industry and co-authored the book “The Offshore Nation”.

His experience spans developing and executing strategies for services globalization, innovation, skills development and employability across countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America.

Avinash is also an Executive Council member of NASSCOM, CII, FICCI and on the Board of American Chamber of Commerce. He is also the Co-Chair of the Education Committee of FICCI and on CII Technology Committee. Avinash holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, a master’s in Computer Science from the University of Alberta and an MBA from Arizona.