Born on June 1, 1948, Mr. R. Seshasayee is a Chartered Accountant who started his career with Hindustan Lever Limited in 1971. He joined Ashok Leyland in 1976. Appointed as Executive Director in 1983, he was elevated as Deputy Managing Director in 1993 and has been the Managing Director since April 1, 1998.

On the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for over 15 years, he has been Chairman of several National Committees of CII including on Eighth Plan, Economic Affairs, Defence, Surface Transport and International Trade & WTO. He was a member of the Government of India delegations to Doha and Hong Kong Ministerial Rounds of WTO in 2001 and 2005 respectively. He is also past Chairman of the CII - Southern Region.

He is the immediate Past President of the CII. Currently, he is the Chairman of IndusInd Bank Ltd.

He was the President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers- the apex body representing automobile industry in India during 2001-2003, Seshasayee has served on several professional committees such as the Accounting Standards Board and the research committees of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is a member in the governing council of the Institute for Financial Management & Research and the Academy for Management Excellence. He is presently the Chairman of the Board of Governors of National Institute of Technology Tiruchirapalli (NITT). He has served as a director in ICICI Bank, EID Parry India Ltd, and Sundaram Asset Management Co. Ltd. He is also associated with several charitable, cultural and social welfare organizations.

He is married with two sons. His wife, Usha Seshasayee is the President of Suraksha, an NGO dedicated to Road Safety.