MAM
Saju Rathnam promoted to director at Xiaomi India
The sales and marketing leader, who heads India 2 covering the South and West, rises after nine years at the smartphone maker
BENGALURU: From Kerala shop floors to the director’s office: Saju Rathnam has climbed the Xiaomi ladder one market at a time. The sales and marketing leader has been promoted to director at Xiaomi India, where he also heads India 2, the company’s business across the South and West regions of the country.
The elevation caps a journey Rathnam describes as incredibly exciting and full of learning. Looking back at nine years, he traces the path as starting with Kerala, then taking on Karnataka, leading the exclusive channel, moving on to organised trade for India, and now heading India 2. His own lesson is plain. Take every responsibility an organisation gives you with an open mind and full commitment. The learning from handling different markets, channels, teams and business profiles is immense, he says, and every role prepares you for the next one in ways you may not realise at the time.
The brief is big. As head of India 2, Rathnam leads, develops and scales Xiaomi’s business across the South and West regions of India. The role focuses on driving growth across all product categories, including phones, AIoT, ecosystem and non-phone businesses, while strengthening channel partnerships, enhancing operational excellence and ensuring Xiaomi’s leadership across key markets.
The pedigree is deep. Rathnam has more than 20 years of experience in the telecom industry, with a proven track record in sales and marketing, distribution and key account management, and business operations and revenue expansion. He began as a business associate at Appco from May 2002 to October 2006. He then spent time as channel sales manager at Vodafone Essar Cellular from November 2006 to May 2008, and as deputy manager for mobile communication at LG Electronics India from May 2008 to September 2013. He was senior regional manager for Karnataka and Kerala at AppsDaily Solutions from September 2013 to November 2015, and branch manager for Karnataka and Kerala at Innocom (InFocus) Electronics India from November 2015 to July 2017.
At Xiaomi, he was state head for Karnataka from July 2017 to May 2022. He led Mi Home for India from January 2021 to May 2022, and then led Mi Home and Studio, building strong exclusive retail footprints across the top cities of India. He became associate director in December 2022 and took charge as head of organised trade, covering modern trade and large format, in January 2023. He became head of India 2 in November 2025 and was promoted to director in October 2026. He is a former head of organised trade for Xiaomi India.
Rathnam says he is passionate about creating an ultimate brand experience and a unique buying experience for Mi fans, by showcasing all the future tech products under one roof and providing best-in-class service. He also ensures the profitability of each store through a quantified sales force and a competitive analysis of the market. He is a Guinness world record holder for launching the world’s largest mobile phone mosaic in 2019. He holds an executive programme in sales and marketing from IIM Indore and an APSPM from IIM Calcutta, and is fluent in English, Hindi and Malayalam.
The analysis is simple. Xiaomi’s business in India is won in the aisles, the stores and the distributor networks as much as on spec sheets, and few leaders have worked every part of that chain. Rathnam has handled states, exclusive stores, organised trade and now two regions, across phones and the wider ecosystem of connected products. That breadth of channel experience is the kind a consumer electronics brand needs as it scales. In his promotion, Xiaomi rewards a leader who has been tested in every market he was handed.
Rathnam has also thanked his mentors: Kunal Agrawal, Mallikarjuna Rao B V, Sunil Baby, Manu Kumar Jain, Muralikrishnan B, Sudhin Mathur, Sandeep Singh Arora, Alex Tang, Yuxiang (Yushant) Liu, Eddie Huang, Alvin T. and Raghu Reddy. He also thanked his team members, colleagues and channel partners who believed in him, supported him and trusted him throughout the journey. He says he is grateful for the journey so far, excited for the responsibility ahead, and looking forward to continuing to learn, contribute and grow.
