NEW DELHI: Technocrat Shashi Shekar Vempati took over as the CEO of Prasar Bharti today as he vouched for making the public broadcaster a "modern broadcasting organisation."
Vempati, 43, is the first non-Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to head the public broadcaster which runs Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR).
Formerly as CEO of online media firm 'Niti Digital', he had played a pivotal role in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's digital campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
"Priority will be to make Prasar Bharati a modern broadcasting organisation," Vempati is quoted as saying in a postcard tweeted by Prasar Bharati.
"India is the biggest democracy and its voice should be heard all over the world through DD and AIR. We will take DD and AIR all over the world through digital technology," he said.
The newly-appointed CEO also met Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash.
"Very best to @shashidigital as he begins work @prasarbharati HQ," Prakash tweeted.
Vempati was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the public broadcaster after a three-member committee, headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari, cleared his name for the post.
An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Vempati has over two decades of experience as a technocrat with specialisation in areas of corporate management, technology consulting and digital media.
He succeeds Rajeev Singh, member (finance) of the board, who was serving as the interim CEO after S C Panda retired earlier this year.
Vempati had also worked with Infosys for more than a decade as a product strategist and digital innovator in the United States.