March 5, 2026 – Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., today announced that Akinobu Shimada, President of Hitachi Vantara Japan, has been appointed CEO of Hitachi Vantara, effective April 1, 2026. Shimada will succeed Sheila Rohra, who will resign from Hitachi Vantara for personal reasons on March 31, 2026.
Sheila joined Hitachi Vantara in February 2023 with over 20 years of leadership in technology companies. She sharpened the company’s strategic focus and accelerated growth. Under her leadership, the company improved profitability while delivering revenue growth and advancing innovation in data infrastructure. This included the expansion of storage technology platforms, the launch of Hitachi iQ to power AI-ready infrastructure solutions, and strategic alliances with NVIDIA and Supermicro to accelerate AI and hybrid cloud adoption. Sheila also forged broader ecosystem partnerships, laying a strong foundation to extend the value of Hitachi Vantara to a wider global customer base.
As she steps down from her role, the company thanks Sheila for her leadership, strategic vision, and lasting contributions to the organization.
“I am incredibly proud of the meaningful progress we have made in strengthening our data infrastructure portfolio and delivering trusted, high-value solutions to customers around the globe,” said Rohra. “As I step into my next chapter, I have full confidence that Shimada-san’s leadership and vision will propel Hitachi Vantara into its next phase of growth, helping clients build the resilient, trusted data foundation essential for AI and mission‑critical workloads.”
Read the full press release at: Hitachi Vantara