Virginia Sharma quits IBM to join LinkedIn

Sharma bids goodbye to IBM after a decade and a half.

After a stint of 15 years at IBM, Virginia Sharma has joined LinkedIn Asia Pacific as director (marketing), talent solutions. Sharma joined IBM after graduating from University of Virginia in 1999 with a degree in marketing and management.

Sharma rose up the ranks at IBM and held various global and regional marketing roles, including those in the Asia Pacific and North America regions. In 2009, she moved to India and subsequently became CMO of IBM India/South Asia. She also served as chairperson of the Data Driven Marketing and Advertising Conference in June 2013.

Sharma is an avid social media consumer. She regularly blogs, and speaks at various IT and digital marketing conferences. She also holds an MBA from New York University in Finance and Entrepreneurship. She enjoys running, golf, sailing and travel.

Last year, LinkedIn India saw Dhiman Mukherji, director, marketing solutions, quitting the company. Earlier that year, LinkedIn named Nishant K Rao as country manager who was until then director, business operations and head of global sales strategy at LinkedIn's Mountain View office. Rao replaced Hari V Krishnan. Krishnan moved into a larger role as managing director, Asia Pacific and Japan.