NEW DELHI: Alok Sharma has been appointed head of media & entertainment (M&E) business for India and SAARC in Autodesk, Inc.

In this role, Sharma will be responsible for driving the growth of Autodesk’s M&E business and adoption of its digital design entertainment creation tools across the region. M&E is a key business vertical for Autodesk worldwide, and India with a booming media & entertainment sector, is one of the significant growth markets.

Sharma comes on board with 18 years of industry experience and in the past held leadership positions in leading IT organisations in India that includes the likes of Hewlett Packard-India, Tata Elxsi and Network Appliance. Prior to joining Autodesk, he was associated with Fujitsu India for 5 years leading two of the company’s business units - Workplace Systems, Workstations & Thin Clients.

Commenting on the appointment, India and SAARC Autodesk MD Pradeep Nair said, "We are delighted to welcome Alok to lead the M&E team at Autodesk India. As a leading provider of software used to create Oscar-winning visual effects, state-of-the-art video game and television content, Autodesk is committed to make some of the most advanced storytelling technologies available to India’s booming M&E sector. Alok’s extensive industry experience will help us reinforce our leadership position in India. I wish him a very successful stint at Autodesk."

Sharma said, "India’s M&E sector is slated to grow at 11.8 per cent in 2013 to touch Rs 917 billion as per a recent FICCI-KPMG’s Media & Entertainment 2013 report. Autodesk is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this environment with its range of tools that enable customers to create more innovative films, television content, and games through integrated digital production environments that support creativity and improve efficiency. I am really excited at the prospect of leading this mandate for Autodesk in India and am confident of our continued success in this promising market."