Pine Labs appoints Vijayalakshmi Swaminathan as chief people officer

Vijayalakshmi Swaminathan.

Pine Labs, an Indian merchant commerce platform, on May 13 announced the appointment of Vijayalakshmi Swaminathan as the company’s new chief people officer. Her last stint was at Amazon India where she was heading the human resources department.

Before Amazon India, Swaminathan was one of the founding partners at CoCoon Consulting, a cross-sectoral boutique HR consulting firm, and prior to that, she has also worked with FMCG major Unilever where she was in charge of strengthening the company’s employer brand.

Commenting on the appointment, Pine Labs CEO B Amrish Rau said, “Our people are our strength. A high-performance workforce will accelerate the progress we have made in recent years. I will also mince no words to say that we want to be seen as the ‘Employer of Choice’ for talented individuals out there who want to join Pine Labs, a company that gives an opportunity to innovate and excel. It is here that I am so thrilled to welcome Viji Swaminathan as our next HR head. I am sure her immense experience will add that spark into our HR function and help us attain newer heights in the future. I welcome her and wish her the very best.”

Swaminathan said she was delighted and honoured to join a fintech that needed no introduction. "Ably led by exemplary leaders, the Pine Labs story is an incredible one of a truly transformative and future-focused company that responsibly drives sustainable growth. I thank Amrish for the opportunity and look forward to building on the strong foundation laid by this team to create a world-class, employee-first organisation.”

With a post-graduate degree in personnel management and industrial relations from XLRI, Jamshedpur, Swaminathan will take over responsibilities from Anu Mathew who will now transition into the role of the head of learning and development at Pine Labs.

Pine Labs, founded in 1998, is a leading merchant commerce platform which serves prominent large, mid-sized and small merchants across India and Southeast Asia.