Naveen Tahilyani has resigned as chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Digital after a brief one-year stint, following efforts to scale the firm’s super-app model that has seen sluggish growth.
Tahilyani will join UK-based asset management firm Prudential Plc as the regional CEO for India, Africa, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, with additional responsibility of the health vertical, the firm said in a statement on Thursday.
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Tahilyani will join Prudential’s business and group executive committee on 29 July, reporting to Prudential’s CEO Anil Wadhwani, and will be based in India.
Tahilyani’s departure raises fresh challenges for Tata Digital. Since Tata Digital was founded in 2019, parent Tata Sons, under chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, has invested over ₹18,000 crore in buying companies like BigBasket and 1MG to build a super-app business.
But it has remained a pipe dream.
Tata Digital’s balance sheet remains far from healthy. In the year ended March 2024, its revenue almost doubled to ₹421 crore, while its losses narrowed from ₹1,370 crore in FY23 to ₹1,201 crore.
The CEO’s departure comes at a crucial juncture for Tata Digital that has been trying to revive its super-app dreams through Neu, set up in April 2022. It is now banking on quick commerce to take on Swiggy Instamart, Zomato-owned Blinkit and Zepto. The firm has also seen a host of top-level exits in recent years, with the firm’s president Mukesh Bansal stepping away from daily operations in early 2023.
Tahilyani replaced Pratik Pal as CEO of Tata Digital in February 2024 who served for over five years. Tata Group’s ambitious super-app Neu was crucial for the conglomerate as it looked to beat rival firms Adani and Reliance on its digital strategy. Mint reported in 2023 that the super-app is expected to meet just half of the sales target in its debut year, which forced the sprawling Indian corporate to review its digital strategy.
Tahilyani was earlier the MD and CEO of Tata AIA for seven years across two separate stints, with a period in between leading AIA’s Group Partnership Distribution business across Asia. Prior to his insurance career, he spent 17 years in McKinsey advising banks and insurance companies in Asia.
Commenting on Naveen’s appointment, Prudential Plc’s CEO Anil Wadhwani said, “Continuing to build our Health pillar, and driving growth across India, Africa, the Philippines, as well as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are strategic gamechangers for Prudential. I am confident Naveen is the right leader in the right location to deliver the impact we need.”
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