Genuine Parts Company is set to lose its chief information and digital officer at the start of April as the company begins preparations to separate its automotive and industrial subsidiaries into standalone, public companies.

In a March 20 8-K SEC filing, Genuine Parts disclosed that, two days earlier, Executive Vice President, CIO/CDO Naveen Krishna notified the company of his intent to resign to pursue other opportunities.

Krishna is set to step down effective April 1, but will remain with GPC until May 5 to assist with transitioning his responsibilities.

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Atlanta-based GPC said it doesn’t plan to appoint a successor, with all responsibilities for the position to be reallocated to other staff.

Krishna has been GPC’s information and digital leader since 2021.

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His departure news comes about a month after GPC announced its intention to separate its NAPA Auto Parts and Motion subsidiaries into their own public companies, with that major move expected to complete in the first quarter of 2027. That split followed a company-wide operational review that GPC started this past fall when Elliott Investment Management became one of the company’s largest shareholders.

No executive changes were noted in conjunction with the planned split.

MDM’s Analysis

Executive turnover amid a major organizational overhaul isn’t surprising, and given that GPC doesn’t intend to appoint a successor to Krishna, it appears the company may be comfortable not having a broader CIO/CDO czar, but rather have individual such leaders at NAPA and Motion. With the different customer focus for each company — NAPA in automotive and Motion with industrial MRO — it makes sense to have tailored digital leaders for each resulting public company’s different needs and digital approach well before the split actually happens.