Shailesh Prakash

Shailesh Prakash is the Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Digital Product Development at The Washington Post. He is responsible for all aspects of product development and technology, including web, mobile, video, print and advertising. Under his leadership, and in close partnership with the newsroom, The Post has seen tremendous digital growth.

Prakash has also spearheaded the development of Arc XP, The Post’s fast-growing global software-as-as-service business. This state-of-the-art digital platform and suite of tools is engineered to meet the needs of publishers, broadcasters and brands and currently powers more than 1500 sites in the U.S. and around the world.

In 2018, Prakash was named to AdWeek 50, an annual list that highlights the most indispensable executives in the media and advertising industries. Fast Company named The Washington Post one of the “10 Most Innovative Companies in Media of 2017.” AdWeek named The Post the “Hottest Digital Publication” of 2016. In 2015, The Post topped Fast Company’s annual list as “The World’s Most Innovative Media Company” and Digiday recognized The Post as “Most Innovative Publisher.”

Prakash has an extensive track record in senior positions spanning multiple industries. He began his career as a software engineer in Silicon Valley moving to positions of increasing responsibility at Sun Microsystems and Netscape and Microsoft where he was a key member of the Bing search engine.

An engineer at heart and by training, Shailesh holds a BS in Computer Science from IIT, Mumbai, a MS in Computer Science from Clemson University, and an MBA from Georgia State University.