Dr Nirmalya Kumar, joined Tata as a member of the Group Executive Council, in August, 2013. Prior to this, he was professor of marketing at the London Business School.

At Tata, Dr Kumar is responsible for strategy at the group level. In addition, he lends his expertise in bringing customer centricity to the fore across group companies. One of the world's leading thinkers on strategy and marketing, Dr Kumar was included in Thinkers50 (the biannual listing of the top 50 management thinkers in the world) and received their "Global Village Award" (for the person who contributed the most to the business community's understanding of globalisation and the new frontiers established by emerging markets).

Dr Kumar has authored six books, the latest being Brand Breakout: How Emerging Market Brands Will Go Global. He has also been awarded with an honorary fellowship by the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in recognition of his patronage and promotion of South Asian art.

Dr Kumar received his BCom degree from Calcutta University, his MBA degree from the University of Illinois and his PhD in marketing from Northwestern University. He has taught at the Harvard Business School, IMD (Switzerland) and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is a member of the board of governors of the London Business School and has served on the boards of several top companies.