Vodafone Group announced the CEO of its business arm, Vinod Kumar (pictured), will leave the role in December 2023 to pursue other opportunities, ending a four-year tenure at the company.

The operator stated Kumar will continue to focus on solidifying its IoT portfolio and leading client partnerships until his departure, with the process of finding a successor underway.

Under Kumar, Vodafone stated its business unit had “consistently outperformed” its large telecoms peers and expanded its services across Europe and Africa, while launching platforms including VHub for SMEs and IoT platform Digital Asset Broker.

Vodafone named Kumar as the new CEO of its business arm in July 2019, around a week after he resigned as CEO and MD of Tata Communications for what he stated were “personal reasons”.

He assumed the job in September 2019, replacing Brian Humphries, who had stepped down in March.

Kumar has also held senior roles at Pacnet, Global One and Sprint International.

Vodafone interim CEO Margherita Della Valle thanked Kumar for his leadership of Vodafone Business and “his continued commitment” to keep the company “a strong competitor” in the coming months.

Kumar’s exit adds to a list of high-profile vacancies at the operator. Vodafone is yet to announce a permanent successor to former CEO Nick Read, who left at the end of 2022. It is also searching for new boss in Spain, with Colman Deegan to leave the role at the end of this month.