Hitachi Vantara Appoints Akinobu Shimada as New CEO Starting April 2026

Hitachi Vantara Welcomes A New CEO

Hitachi Vantara LLC has announced the appointment of Akinobu Shimada as the new Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026. This transition follows Sheila Rohra's decision to step down from her position as CEO due to personal reasons as of March 31, 2026. She has played a crucial role at Hitachi Vantara since February 2023, leading the company towards growth and clarifying its strategic direction.

Under Rohra's leadership, Hitachi Vantara has achieved significant milestones, including enhancements in profitability and business expansion. The company has introduced innovative solutions in the data infrastructure arena, such as the launch of AI infrastructure solution "Hitachi iQ" and strategic partnerships with NVIDIA and Supermicro, accelerating the deployment of AI and hybrid cloud technologies. Rohra's tenure has established a solid foundation for expanding the partner ecosystem and delivering value to customers globally.

Reflecting on her time at Hitachi Vantara, Rohra expressed pride in the progress made in strengthening the data infrastructure portfolio and delivering reliable, high-value solutions to customers worldwide. She emphasized confidence in Shimada's leadership to take Hitachi Vantara to its next growth phase, providing robust data foundations critical to customer AI and mission-critical workloads.

Akinobu Shimada, who will also continue to serve as the President of Hitachi Vantara Japan, brings over 30 years of experience with Hitachi. He has driven business strategies in storage and related hardware and software sectors. His recent role as Global Executive and President of Hitachi Vantara Japan has significantly contributed to the global expansion of the company's data infrastructure services, centered around storage solutions.

Shimada has been an industry leader in evolving Hitachi's storage business, creating a strong foundation that supports reliability and resilience in mission-critical businesses, while redefining the value of data management. He commented on the increased complexity of data management challenges faced by customers, underscoring the growing expectations for reliable data infrastructure, particularly for Hitachi Vantara.

Taking on the CEO role during this pivotal time is indeed an honor for Shimada, who is determined to work with teams worldwide to harness the company’s expertise, passion, and knowledge. His objective is to deliver true value to customers’ essential businesses by realizing the world’s most trusted data infrastructures.

Jun Abe, Executive Vice President of Hitachi, expressed confidence in Shimada’s ability to blend high reliability in engineering cultivated in Japan with agile business approaches honed overseas. He highlighted Shimada's leadership as vital for the Hitachi Group to accelerate sustainable global growth while truly implementing the “One Hitachi” standard that is digitally focused. Abe also acknowledged Rohra for her tremendous contributions to both Hitachi and Hitachi Vantara and wished her the best in her future endeavors.

A Brief Biography of Akinobu Shimada

Shimada has been pivotal in advancing Hitachi Vantara's data infrastructure services globally, serving as both CEO of Hitachi Vantara LLC and as President of Hitachi Vantara Japan. He joined Hitachi in April 1989 and has held various leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Planning at Hitachi Data Systems Corporation in the U.S. He has also served as the Chief Product Planning Officer at Hitachi Vantara LLC, leading initiatives in product strategy and development.

For customers and stakeholders looking for reliable data management solutions, the future looks promising under Shimada's leadership at Hitachi Vantara. His commitment towards creating a highly efficient and resilient data infrastructure paired with understanding evolving customer needs positions the company for continued success in a rapidly changing technological landscape.

About Hitachi Vantara

Hitachi Vantara, in collaboration with Hitachi Vantara LLC in the U.S., provides trusted data infrastructures to world-leading innovators. They support customers in building sustainable business growth through their expertise in data storage, infrastructure, cloud management, and digital solutions. For more information, please visit the Hitachi Vantara website.

About Hitachi

Hitachi aims to contribute to the realization of a harmonized society where the environment, happiness, and economic growth coexist through its Social Innovation Business (SIB), leveraging IT, OT (operational technology), and products. With its global operations in sectors such as Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connected Industries, Hitachi continually innovates to address social challenges by creating value from data with Lumada as its core.