Vijay Kannan is new CIO for Shell Global Lubricants

Vijay Kannan has been appointed to the role of IT general manager (CIO) – Global Lubricants, Sectors and Decarbonisation and B2B Customer at British-Dutch multinational oil and gas company Shell. Earlier, he was IT general manager (CIO) for Shell’s Global Commercial businesses based in London, United Kingdom. Kannan will now move back to India to take up the new role.

As the global IT and digital leader for Shell’s Lubricants, Sectors & Decarbonisation division, Kannan is responsible for shaping and delivering the information technology (IT) and digital strategy for both the businesses and enabling an integrated “customer back” approach to understanding and fulfilling the needs of its customers

Leading a team that is spread across Houston, Texas, U.S.A., London, The Hague, Netherlands, Shanghai, China, and Bengaluru, India, Kannan is tasked with building a cohesive portfolio of business capabilities that bring together processes, data and information technology/digital tools that continue to serve the customers of Shell Lubricants and solve complex problems being faced in the energy transition towards a low carbon future.

“Decarbonisation is a top priority for Shell and the society at large and digital can play an important role in unlocking and accelerating the decarbonization pathways. From solutions that bring transparency to carbon footprint, optimizing value chains to increase energy efficiency and enabling collaborations that bring collective action, technology and digital would have a key role in the future decarbonization pathways across sectors,” said Kannan.

“India has the perfect combination of rich IT/digital talent and a thriving digital innovation ecosystem which is a bedrock for germination and scaling of relevant customer engagement and digital decarbonization solutions. I am excited to be back in Bangalore and work closely with this community to making a meaningful difference to the society,” he said.

Kannan has more than 18 years’ experience across roles and industries, including chemicals/paints, fast moving consumer goods F(MCG), and energy. He joined Shell in 2018.

Before joining Shell, he worked with Unilever for 14 years, most recently as chief information officer (CIO) – Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Unilever South Asia. Earlier in his career, he had multiple regional and global roles in information technology at Asian Paints and Unilever.