Google gets new regional lead as Persaud joins Airbnb

Google has named Rajan Anandan, currently the head of India for Google as its new Southeast Asia lead. Rajan will take on the duties in addition to his role as head of the India operations.He will be reporting to Karim Tempfamani, president of Google APAC. A Google spokesperson confirmed the development to Marketing.Rajan's move comes shortly after Julian Persaud(pictured), its APAC lead left to join Airbnb in a regional role.  Anandan has led Google’s India ops as its managing director since 2011 and had stints at Microsoft India and Dell prior to that.Update: Airbnb has confirmed in a press statement that Persaud will be developing and leading all strategic initiatives and operations in Asia-Pacific.“Asia-Pacific is one of the most important regions for Airbnb both in terms of regional and global travel,” said Varsha Rao, head of global operations at Airbnb. "As we prepare for the next phase of incredible growth we are building a strong leadership team in our Singapore hub. Julian has a proven track record of growing technology companies in this region, a real passion for the people behind the business and a love for travel, which will make him a great asset to Airbnb.”Persaud joined Google in 2005 and most recently held the role of managing director of Southeast Asia sales and operations, overseeing sales, marketing and partnership development in the region.Prior to Singapore, he was based in Google’s Sydney office as the head of online for Google Australia, managing Google's efforts to help small and medium sized Australian businesses take advantage of online advertising.He has also had stints in Yahoo! Search Marketing and UK auction house QXL.