Dhiren Savla, chief information officer (CIO) of VFS Global and senior vice president and head of Global IT (Shared Service Centre) for Kuoni Group, has been appointed as Group CIO of Kuoni Group, a Swiss-based multinational travel service provider.

In this role, he is responsible for providing strategic leadership to the IT function and strengthening the company’s global IT delivery model across geographies.

He will be based in Dubai and will concurrently continue in his current VFS Global role.

This move comes as part of amendments made to the management structure of the Kuoni Group as part of the accelerated implementation of the Group’s strategy.  As part of this strategy, the three divisions of Kuoni Group will be made more autonomous and accountable for their respective businesses.

Savla holds a long standing association with the Kuoni Group. During the years of 2004 to 2010, he worked as chief technology officer and later as CIO for Kuoni India & South Asia including VFS Global. From 2011, until January 2012, he also held responsibility for emerging markets for Kuoni’s travel businesses in addition to being CIO of VFS Global.

Savla has also worked with Standard & Poor's (CRISIL) as CIO for their South Asia region where he was responsible for its KPO business IT in Europe and the Americas. In the past, he has held various leadership positions within Merrill Lynch, G.E. Shipping and IL&FS in India.

To his credit, Savla is the recipient of several industry awards including the CIO 100 award (2007 - 2012), and the NASSCOM Innovation Award. He has also served as an advisor, juror, and committee member for various industry bodies. – TradeArabia News Service