Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, April 2026 – Sam Zegenbal has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Illumine International Inc. (Illumine-i), effective April 1, 2026. This transition marks a significant evolution in his leadership journey—from leading Human Resources to now driving end-to-end business operations across engineering delivery, PMO, workforce strategy, and enterprise functions.
Reflecting on this transition, Sam Zegenbal emphasized his focus on execution, scale, and outcomes, bringing together his experience across people, process, and performance. He highlighted the importance of translating strategy into execution and building organizations that deliver measurable business impact at scale.
Prior to this appointment, Sam Zegenbal served as Chief Human Resources Officer at Illumine-i, where he played a key role in building the organization’s human capital foundation and driving talent strategy aligned to business growth.
Earlier, he held the position of Head of Human Resources at Illumine-i, where he contributed to strengthening employee engagement, HR operations, and organizational effectiveness during a critical growth phase.
Before joining Illumine-i, he worked at Kodaikanal International School, where he served as SEED HOD & IB CAS Coordinator, contributing to social and environmental impact initiatives while shaping young talent.
He also spent over a decade at Barclays, holding multiple leadership roles including Vice President – Location Strategy, Assistant Vice President – Service Management, and Assistant Vice President – Operations, where he led large-scale transformation programs, governance frameworks, and operational excellence initiatives across India and global operations.
He began his career with EXL Services, where he led operations teams and built strong expertise in process improvement, customer service operations, and team leadership.
Across his career, Sam Zegenbal has built deep expertise in operations transformation, workforce strategy, governance, and scaling high-performance organizations.
Sam Zegenbal holds a Postgraduate Degree in Strategic Human Resources Management from Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli, strengthening his foundation in leadership, strategy, and organizational development.
Illumine International Inc. (Illumine-i) is a full-suite engineering and sustainability consulting firm focused on enabling energy infrastructure development across global markets. The company delivers value-engineered solutions for EPCs, developers, and asset owners, supporting the planning, building, and optimization of power infrastructure. With expertise spanning engineering, project management, and digital execution tools, Illumine-i has contributed to over 3GW of renewable and infrastructure projects across four continents, helping clients achieve efficiency, scalability, and sustainability.
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