Carwow Group has appointed Hizam Sahibudeen as its new chief technology officer as it looks to accelerate dealer-led functionality and AI-embedded product innovation.
Sahibudeen will lead Carwow’s technology vision and strategy, overseeing its engineering, IT and security teams from the group’s London headquarters.
He reports to John Veichmanis, chief executive officer, and succeeds David Santoro, Carwow Group co-founder and former chief technology officer, who remains in the engineering leadership team as principal engineer.
Dealer tools focus
He joins with more than 20 years’ experience building scalable and secure systems and leading technology teams across the US, Europe and Asia.
Originally from Malaysia and with deep Silicon Valley experience, Sahibudeen has held senior engineering roles at high-growth companies including ShipMonk and GotPhoto.
Earlier in his career, he joined Iflix from day one, helping scale the platform to 50 million users across 27 countries, and later led technology strategy at Newstore, delivering omnichannel solutions for brands including Lego and Fossil.
Executive team expands
Carwow Group has also confirmed that Rinesh Sheth, general counsel, has joined its executive team.
Sheth has served as Carwow’s general counsel since 2024, building the group’s legal function and leading legal workstreams behind several significant commercial milestones.
He has more than 20 years’ international legal experience and previously spent over 11 years at Informa, the global events and publishing business.
At Informa, Sheth held a range of commercial and corporate leadership roles, later serving as general counsel for M&A and global support. He supported the business’ growth through acquisitions as its market capitalisation rose from £2.5bn to £10bn.
He began his career at international law firm Dentons, where he trained and qualified, working on cross-border public and private M&A, joint ventures and corporate governance.
John Veichmanis, chief executive officer of Carwow Group, said: “Hizam is a proven champion of AI-native engineering practices and data-driven decision-making, meaning he has the experience, vision and energy to deliver world-class capabilities as we continue to scale the Carwow platform.
“As our business continues to grow in scale and complexity, having legal and compliance represented at executive level is the right step for the next chapter of Carwow Group. Rinesh brings not only deep legal expertise but also sound commercial judgement and a genuine commitment to our mission and culture. His perspective will be invaluable as we navigate the opportunities ahead.”
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