Executive Profiles

Committed to transforming the future of transportation.

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Jijimon Chandran

Founder & CEO

Over the last decade, Jiji has led Acsia’s growth from a fledgling startup to a global leader in automotive software. He continues to be responsible for setting the organization’s strategic direction and business goals.

With over 25 years of experience leading OEM production programs for marquee brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Nissan, and Tier-I suppliers like Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic, Jiji is an expert in the areas of embedded systems, and automation across automotive and industrial domains.

Jiji holds a graduate (B.S.) degree in information technology and postgraduate (M.S.) degree in software systems from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani (Rajasthan) and has completed an executive management program from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, California. He is the current chair of the Thiruvananthapuram Zone of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier trade association and advocacy group.

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Rajesh Panicker

CFO

A management and business professional with over 24 years of experience, Rajesh has expertise in profit & loss management, financial planning, financial control, risk assessment, fundraising, structuring deals & large contracts, concluding mergers & acquisitions, and managing investor relations.

At Acsia, Rajesh is responsible for driving margin growth, evaluating new business opportunities, managing cash flow, raising venture and debt financing, and ensuring governance and compliance.

Rajesh is a graduate (B.Sc.) in mathematics and cost accounting, and holds an M.B.A. in finance from Bangalore University. He has also completed a one-year executive program in business management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata. He is an active member of TiE Kerala and Trivandrum Management Association (TMA).

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Rejeesh R Pillai

VP Pre-Sales & Solutions

With Acsia since 2015, Rejeesh has held various roles in the delivery organization till 2021 before being entrusted to lead pre-sales and solutions. He is responsible for collaborating with internal stakeholders to craft compelling solutions and build winning proposals.

With over 25 years of experience leading OEM production programs for brands like Mercedes-Benz, and Tier-I suppliers like Mitsubishi Electric and Visteon, Rejeesh is an expert in understanding customer business needs and proposing technology investments needed to realize revenue goals.

Rejeesh holds a graduate degree (B.S.) in information systems from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani (Rajasthan).

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Anil Shahul Hameed

VP Delivery

Since 2017, Anil has led Acsia’s global delivery engine ensuring quality, time to market, and compliance. He is responsible for full project life cycles including requirements gathering, creation of project plans and schedules, identifying and deploying resources, managing budgets, and facilitating project execution till closure.

With over 25 years of experience leading OEM production programs for iconic customers like BMW, Skoda, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford, and Tier-I suppliers like JoyNext and Garmin, Anil is an expert in embedded systems, AUTOSAR, Android Automotive, ASPICE, Cybersecurity and Functional Safety (FuSa).

Anil holds a postgraduate (M.C.A.) degree in computer science from the SRM College of Engineering, Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

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Jayachandran R

VP People & Values

In a career spanning 27+ years, Jayachandran has garnered extensive experience in HR service delivery, talent acquisition and development, mentoring, performance-productivity management, coaching, career succession planning, employee engagement, competency development, office administration, statutory compliance, and payroll management.

At Acsia, Jayachandran is responsible for all people-related policies, processes, and practices. Under his able leadership, Acsia has been certified as a Great Place To Work (GPTW).

Jayachandran holds a postgraduate degree (M.Sc.) in physics from the Barkatullah University Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).

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Vasantharaj G Pillai

VP Technology & Innovation

For over 25 years, Vasantharaj has led projects delivering software design and development for the automotive domain. His expertise spans Android, Linux, Embedded Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and Windows systems, C/C++, hypervisors and RTOS, abstraction layers, application layer components, middleware layers, kernel modules, and ASPICE.

At Acsia since 2014 as one of the founding team members, Vasantharaj has been instrumental in architecting innovative solutions for major projects like rear-seat entertainment middleware, instrument cluster development, and head unit system for Android Automotive-based infotainment.

With experience managing OEM production programs for brands like Volkswagen, Porshe, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz, and Tier-I suppliers like Panasonic and JoyNext, Vasantharaj leads our innovation engine.

Vasantharaj holds a diploma in electrical engineering from the Kerala State Board of Technical Education and a post-graduate diploma in computer science from the Electronics Research & Development Centre of India (ER&DCI), a part of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala).

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Scott Kuyawa

EVP & GM, North America

Automotive industry veteran Scott joined Acsia in 2024 to establish and lead the North American operations. He has under his belt more than 30 years of experience in technical and leadership positions with leading automobile OEMs, designing engaging user experiences, developing automotive engineering solutions and managing production operations across manufacturing sites and technical centers in the United States, Mexico, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and China.

At Acsia, Scott is responsible for driving go-to-market efforts in North America targeting automobile OEMs and Tier-I suppliers. He leverages his deep stakeholder relationships to showcase Acsia’s expertise in developing next-gen automotive software solutions for digital cockpits, electrification, and energy storage.

Scott holds a graduate (B.S.) degree in engineering from the Michigan Technological University and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

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Datta Hegde

MD, Germany

Datta became a part of the Acsia family in March 2023 post the acquisition of Arctictern Solutions GmbH, a business he founded. He brings over 26 years of experience of which 16 have been spent in the automotive industry spanning functions like sales, procurement, mergers & acquisitions, and operational excellence.

At a leading connected car technology provider, Datta built offshore delivery centers in Ukraine, Romania, China, and India and led several mergers & acquisitions, and divestments. At one of the foremost automotive tier-I corporations, he was responsible for indirect procurement globally and managed their $150 million savings initiative across engineering programs.

Datta holds a graduate (B.E.) degree in mechanical engineering and an M.B.A., both from Karnatak University, Dharwad (Karnataka).

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Atsushi Masuyama

Head of Sales & Marketing, Japan

Atsushi has been with Acsia since 2015 and manages key relationships with OEMs and Tier-I suppliers in Japan. A Japanese automotive industry veteran, Atsushi brings over 38 years of experience at a leading Japanese Tier-I supplier managing production programs related to car audio hardware development and automotive software for the world’s leading automobile manufacturers.

Atsushi holds a graduate (B.S.) degree in electrical engineering from Yamaguchi University, Japan.

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Nibil P M

AVP & Head, Advanced Technology Group

With Acsia since 2015, Nibil has been a core member of our Advanced Technology Group and instrumental in architecting innovative solutions for various customer products. He comes with more than 20 years of experience in the design and development of automotive systems for the instrument cluster, infotainment, body, and power train domains.

With experience leading OEM production programs for customers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Volvo, Mahindra, and Tata Motors, and Tier-I suppliers like Panasonic, Garmin and Aptiv, Nibil’s expertise spans single and multi-core micro-controllers and micro-processor-based software architecture using AUTOSAR, Android, Linux, hypervisors and containers, system software design of multi-node automotive systems, and protocols like SPI, SCI, I2C, CAN, LIN, J1939, KWP, UDS, ISO TP, and APIX.

Nibil holds a graduate (B.Tech.) degree in computer science and engineering from the MES Engineering College, Malappuram (Kerala), and is a certified ISO 26262 Functional Safety Engineer.

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Sojan James

Principal Architect

Sojan brings over 25 years of experience in software development, system, and software architecture for embedded and automotive systems. A “full stack” engineer, he has excellent understanding of complex hardware and software systems, and expertise across Linux and QNX Operating Systems and system software development in C, Rust and C++.

He strongly believes that automotive and embedded system industries should embrace modern languages for system development and that led Sojan to develop Sabaton, a Rust programming language-based automotive Linux software platform.

With experience leading OEM production programs for customers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota, and Tier-I suppliers like Harman, Sojan is an industry expert in automotive infotainment, telematics, and embedded systems.

Sojan holds a graduate degree (B.E.) in electrical, electronics and communications engineering from the Bangalore Institute of Technology, Bangalore (Karnataka).

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Diljith Muthuvana

Head of Telematics & Connectivity Solutions

Since 2023 with Acsia, Diljith has helped develop and take to market the Telematics and V2X solutions suite. In a career spanning over 23 years in ECU Systems and Software development for Telematics, V2X & Connected technologies, Infotainment, and Safety & Body control domains, he has worn multiple hats – SME, Systems architect, and Advanced technical lead.

With extensive production program experience across OEMs like BMW, Volvo, General Motors, SVW, Renault, Ford, Mazda, and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles and Tier-1s like Lear, Visteon, Aptiv, HSAE and LG, Diljith has held responsibilities for driving the system design, technical concepts and system architectures for car and truck platforms.

Diljith holds a graduate (B.E.) degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Bangalore University.

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Gloria Joseph

AVP & Head, Resource Management Group

With Acsia since 2016, Gloria has successfully led large engagements with major automotive OEMs and Tier-I suppliers across the U.S., E.U., and Japan adhering to ASPICE, ISO and CMMi

Level 5 standards. She comes with more than 20 years of experience in automotive and embedded system software development with deep expertise in HMI and middleware application and cybersecurity implementation including threat analysis for IVI and cluster software.

Armed with the experience of leading OEM production programs for customers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Skoda, Volvo, Honda, Ola, and Tier-I suppliers like Panasonic, in 2024 Gloria transitioned to head Acsia’s Resource Management Group responsible for ensuring skilled talent is always available for deployment and their optimum utilization.

Gloria holds a diploma in computer science from the Kerala Government Polytechnic College Kalamassery (Kerala) and a postgraduate degree in computer application (M.C.A.) from the Sikkim Manipal University, Manipal (Karnataka).

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Jose Kunnappally

Head of Marketing & Communications

Jose brings over 25 years of experience in the information technology industry in marketing leadership roles across some of the most reputed names in IT consulting & services, and SaaS. He has established and scaled marketing and communications functions supporting business development and sales efforts in markets like the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, India, and the Middle East.

His deep expertise in full-funnel marketing spans branding, media & analyst relations, events, account-based marketing, pursuit marketing, and content marketing. At Acsia, he is responsible for driving brand awareness, lead generation, fortifying key account relationships, enhancing win rates, and strengthening the employer brand.

Jose holds a graduate degree in management from Christ University, Bengaluru (Karnataka) and a postgraduate degree in communications from MKU University, Madurai (Tamil Nadu). He has also completed an executive program in strategic marketing management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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