"Guided by his extensive engineering, technical and strong leadership experience living and working across the world, Anu will continue to build on the strong foundation that Visal established in APAC and China." said George Oliver, chairman and CEO of Johnson Controls. "Together we will continue to accelerate innovation through our Openblue digital platform and deliver sustainability solutions, energy efficiency, and healthy, safe and connected smart buildings for our customers."

Most recently, Rathninde was president, Electrical Distribution Systems and Advanced Safety & User Experience, for Aptiv, Asia Pacific, with responsibility for over 4,000 engineers, 20 manufacturing plants and 35,000 people. Prior to Aptiv, Rathninde was the vice president for the automotive products group at Johnson Electric based in Switzerland, leading multiple global business units. He has also held progressive leadership positions in general management, engineering, business development, strategy and business planning at Delphi corporation.

Rathninde holds an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, a master's degree in global management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, a master's degree in mechatronics from the National University of Singapore, and a bachelor's degree in electrical and electronics engineering from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Rathninde will report directly to George Oliver and will be based in Shanghai.