B&R, ABB’s Machine Automation division, has appointed Pratip Samanta as new regional managing director (RMD) for Southern and Eastern Asia, effective 1 July 2026. Samanta succeeds Jhankar Dutta, who has decided to leave the company to pursue new career opportunities.
Samanta brings over 21 years of leadership experience in Industrial Automation, IT Services, Digital Consulting, and Strategic Account Management. Most recently, he served as Global Client Partner at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Munich, where he drove strategic growth and large-scale digital transformation initiatives for global energy technology clients. He previously worked at ABB from 2008 to 2017 in several leadership roles across sales, consulting, and operational transformation, and brings additional expertise from his tenure at Siemens in Automation & Drives, where he helped industrial customers enhance operational efficiency and technological adoption.
Samanta holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Vidyasagar University with focus on Electrical Engineering and attended TCS Emerging Leaders Program supported by Ohio State University and TATA Management Training Center.