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Industry mourns the loss of HR Veteran Mali Mahalingam

Mahalingam is credited as one of the four architects of the HR Competency framework currently in use in India that was developed under the aegis of NHRD Network and CII

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Mali Mahalingam, Former VP - HR of IBM India passed away on Thursday morning following experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms for about three weeks.

A decorated career spanning three decades of corporate experience, Mahalingam served as an HR Advisor and Executive Coach. He often partnered with several corporate clients in their leadership development initiatives through assessment & development and executive coaching.

Mahalingam is credited as one of the four architects of the HR Competency framework currently in use in India that was developed under the aegis of NHRD Network and CII. He had also been a member of the Nasscom Mentor Panel for mentoring CEOs of SMEs in the IT and ITeS sector. In his late role, Mahalingam was leading the Human Resources function at IBM India, as the Vice President of Human Resources. 

Before this, Mahalingam was associated with Symphony Teleca Corporation as their EVP and Global Chief People Officer for over eight years and headed the Global HR functions spanning over 20 countries, led over 12 small and medium acquisitions and their integration. Mahalingam's professional experience before Symphony included IBM India where he served as the Head of HR and a member of the India/SA leadership team, Group Vice President - Human Resources of Scandent Solutions; Vice President and Country Manager - Human Resources of Hewlett-Packard; Director - Human Resources of Philips Software Centre, Bengaluru; Head - HR of ING Vysya Bank among others. He had completed his MA and BCom from the University of Madras.

Remembering the celebrated leader, ITC’s VP HR (Agri-Business Division), Prabhakar Lingareddy, reportedly told the media, 

“Mali reflected what H Jackson Brown Jr once said, ‘Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” 

Learning of his demise, several industry leaders expressed grief and deep loss. According to reports,  ITCs’s Prabhakar Lingareddy said-

“I have known Mali for over 15 years now, an association that got cemented courtesy NHRD. Always smiling. I guess it came from his generosity of 'giving'...His positive energy was contagious and he inspired so many professionals. I personally enjoyed interacting with him and always came back charged. For me, Mali meant Smile. He will be smiling wherever he is.”

Professor C Balaji reportedly said,

"I am in deep shock since Mali and I had been friends since 1979. Despite being my boss, he always introduced me to others as his mentor, that shows Mali’s humility and deep respect for academicians,"



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obituary Mali Mahalingam

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