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Tag: leadership team

  • Ather Energy announces key appointments to support next phase of growth

    Ather Energy announces key appointments to support next phase of growth

    Mumbai: Homegrown electric scooter brand Ather Energy has announced two key appointments with an aim to strengthen its leadership team as the company embarks on its next phase of growth. In view of its long term business objectives and goals, the company has appointed Gurinder Singh Sukhija as head of ownership management and Murali Sashidharan as head of communications and government relations.

    “‘Ownership experience’ is the part of the journey that starts once the customer takes delivery of the vehicle. I am delighted to welcome Gurinder. His rich experience across industries and functions will be super-useful in helping him take the Ather ownership experience to even greater heights. Functionally speaking, Gurinder will lead the Customer Service, Vehicle Service and Ownership Products verticals,” said Ather Energy chief business officer Ravneet Singh Phokela on the appointments.

    Sukhija comes with over 24 years of experience in diverse industries like banking, telecom, infrastructure (ATM) and transport networks. His core expertise lies in customer support management across geographies and managing in-house and outsourcing partners. 

    Prior to joining Ather, he was working with Ola as senior director and head-customer and partner support operations. He has held previous roles at CMS Infosystems, Transaction Solutions International, Mphasis among others.

    Announcing Sashidharan’s appointment at Ather Energy, Ravneet further said, “Murali, with his extensive experience in corporate communication will head the Public Relations function, leading media relations, influencer marketing and public affairs. He will also manage the interface with government and industry bodies. Murali brings a wealth of experience and will play a critical role in this high-growth phase for the brand. I am delighted to have both of them join us at this critical stage of our journey.”

    Sashidharan comes with 20 years of experience in goal-oriented communication strategies focussed on driving engagement with stakeholders and establishing strong brand recall across audiences. His last assignment was with Ola where he managed the communications strategy for their mobility and electric businesses. He has also led the communication mandate for Ola’s launch in London. Murali has also worked with Sony Pictures Network India, Adfactors PR, MSL 20:20, Royal Sundaram and Six Degrees PR.

    To cater to growing demand, Ather Energy has commissioned its second manufacturing facility in Hosur recently taking its manufacturing capacity to 400,000 units from its current capacity of 120,000 units. It has also invested heavily in the charging infrastructure to ensure a seamless and hassle-free transition to EVs, the company said.

    According to a statement, the company has registered strong year-on-year growth, and has expanded its retail footprint to 26 cities and plans to expand to around 150 Experience Centers in 100 cities by March 2023.

  • Cuemath bolsters leadership team with key appointments

    Cuemath bolsters leadership team with key appointments

    Mumbai: Cuemath, the global math tutoring platform, has announced several new senior appointments as it continues the reorganisation of its leadership team. The company onboarded Samir Kulshresth as CFO, Nisha Popli as CHRO, Janardan Singh as chief of sales, and Anushray Gupta as chief product and technology officer ahead of its next growth phase.

    Samir and Nisha have joined Cuemath already, with Janardan and Anushray’s appointments effective from January 2022. All the new hires will report to Vivek Sunder, who was newly appointed as CEO in October.

    “As we prepare for our next wave of growth, these leadership changes will strengthen governance in Cuemath 3.0 and support our goal of a presence in 50 countries and becoming a global math leader,” stated Cuemath founder and chairman Manan Khurma. “With Vivek at the helm, supported by this senior leadership talent, we are poised to scale greater heights.”

    Samir, a chartered accountant, has over 19 years of financial management experience across the e-commerce, healthcare, telecom & IT/ITES industries. He has held previous roles at Practo, Fortis Healthcare, Genpact, and Indus Towers.

    Janardan has over 20 years of business leadership experience with expertise in scaling up in the ed-tech industry. His last assignment was with ClassKlap as its founder and COO.

    Nisha has over 19 years of experience in directing human resources programs for leading businesses, including the Big Four accountancy firms and leading global professional services firms globally. Prior to Cuemath, she was heading HR for Moglix India, a B2B e-commerce start-up. She has also worked as the head of people office for the small format business of Future Group India, global HR head with The Smart Cube, and other HR roles with KPMG, Grant Thornton, and Ernst & Young.

    Anushray is rejoining Cuemath having originally built the company’s engineering and product team as CTO. He then moved to Udaan as product lead for their grocery vertical where he was key in increasing market share.

    “The new array of dedicated leaders makes me more confident and committed to entering this new chapter of Cuemath’s growth and integrating our diverse knowledge and expertise in realising the company’s vision,” said Vivek Sunder, welcoming new appointees on board.   

  • DFAN strengthens leadership team with appointment of Hemlata Varlani

    DFAN strengthens leadership team with appointment of Hemlata Varlani

    Mumbai: Digital Futurists Angels Network (DFAN), a global community-backed Angel Network announced the appointment of Hemlata Varlani, as chief marketing officer and lead- Impact Investment initiatives.

    Varlani has joined the leadership team to further drive the angel investment firm’s growth charter and purpose-driven approach. In addition to leading marketing, communications and branding for DFAN, she will also be a strategic marketing advisor for the portfolio companies. She will explore and drive DFAN’s focus on positively impacting ‘Bharat’ as well as build an approach and framework for impact investments, aimed to generate measurable positive social impact along with a financial return, spanning impact-tech, Alagri-tech, clean-tech, ed-tech, health-tech and other sustainability-oriented solutions, said the company in a statement.

    Varlani has 24 years of proven and blended experience with enterprise/corporates, start-ups and social enterprises. Corporates included leadership roles with global mandates for IBM, Intel, Accenture, Toshiba, Birlasoft, LG & QuEST Global. At the core of the experience with start-ups, was partnering with passionate founders to help them succeed in their industry and custom stage of organizational maturity and market readiness. Some of these were – Ninestars (Media-tech and Venture Builder), MarkNetwork LLC (in BlockChain & Crytocurrency), Mastree (Edu-Tech), Farmveda, ReachLawyer, as well as Futuryze.

    Prior to DFAN, Varlani led marketing, communications and CSR at Futuryze Digital, a product engineering company with the spirit of a start-up studio. She has worked across domains, spanning impact-tech, agri-tech, fin-tech, edu-tech, e-commerce, B2C retail, data analytics, SaaS.

    Varlani is an alumni of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) and is a triple post graduate, in the fields of marketing, PR and advertising. 

  • GroupM India restructures Central Trading Group leadership

    GroupM India restructures Central Trading Group leadership

    Mumbai: GroupM India has restructured its media buying function – Central Trading Group (CTG) and announced four key appointments to the leadership team.

    Pratik Rathod who has been successfully leading buying for Wavemaker will be taking on an elevated group-level role of GroupM India national broadcast head. “Rathod’s expertise, vast experience and approach to creative solutions will help us further leverage one of the largest mediums. He will help strengthen GroupM’s OneVoice priorities and strengthen media partnerships,” said the company in a statement on Monday.

    K Srinivas Rao takes over the Wavemaker buying mandate from Pratik Rathod. Rao has been leading the Mediacom buying function for the past few years. For MediaCom, he has built a strong integrated buying team and strengthened the overall buying products by adopting strong processes.

    Rahul Satoskar, currently the region buying lead for Mindshare west, gets elevated to lead Mediacom buying nationally. 

    Muralidhar T is taking on an elevated role of leading buying function for the whole of Mindshare. Over the years, Muralidhar has done a commendable job and his contribution has led Mindshare buying scale-up to new heights. “Murali’s strategic thinking and astute commercial acumen would help the overall agency further enhance the buying product and enable higher value to unlock for the clients,” said the statement.

    “This restructure is a part of evolving transformation for GroupM,” stated GroupM India president of investments and pricing Sidharth Parashar. “The relentless commitment to delivering value to its client’s business is what truly defines team CTG, and I am privileged to lead a multi-dimensional team of leaders who are passionate about media and our client’s business. I am delighted to see these leaders grow and take on larger responsibilities in shaping the GroupM CTG transformational journey.”

  • Ants Digital strengthens leadership team with Faisal Haq as COO

    Ants Digital strengthens leadership team with Faisal Haq as COO

    Mumbai: Ants Digital, a tech-led marketing agency based out of Gurgaon, has appointed Faisal Haq as chief operating officer.  

    Haq comes with over 21 years of experience and has joined Ants after working for WATConsult-Dentsu International for over 6.5 years in the capacity of EVP operations and business development. In his two decades of rich experience, he has worked in different positions with Roshcomm (Kingdom of Bahrain), Askme.com, Crosshairs Communication, and Avian Media. He brings with him a very good experience of digital and technology in both domestic and international markets.

    “Faisal comes with a great understanding of different markets which will hugely help Ants in strengthening its footprint across the globe. Our bullish approach in getting great clients onboard has served us well as we have acquired some noteworthy clients in the space of infrastructure, health and wellness, defence, and insurance sector,” stated Ants Digital CEO Sanjay Arora. “With Faisal joining Ants, the team is excited to serve more extensive mandates even in the International markets. By investing heavily in technology and hiring good talent, we have been working towards scaling our operations across Gurgaon, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.”

    Haq comes with over 21 years of experience in integrated marketing, digital media marketing, social media, data-driven marketing, and advertising with domain exposure with various startups, emerging tech, technology, mobile media, programmatic, consulting, regional and global market.

    “Ants has been scaling ideas and its business pan India, and I am excited to build and grow this further,” said Haq on his new role. “The online prowess and unique mix of service offerings, including digital, brand building, creatives and content and technology, make the whole offering more future-ready and agile. I am really excited to be part of the team and look forward to this challenge.”

  • Koo onboards Phaneesh Gururaj as president, technology

    Koo onboards Phaneesh Gururaj as president, technology

    Mumbai: Homegrown microblogging platform Koo on Friday brought onboard Phaneesh Gururaj as president- technology to lead the engineering and innovation team at the company. He has moved from redBus as leader of the engineering and product teams.

    Along with Gururaj, the technology team at Koo will consist of Google – VP of engineering, Badri Narayan; GoJek – VP & head of mobile division, Pavan Kunchapu; Walmart Labs – engineering leader & head of data platforms, Vivek Yadav. This newly appointed team will be tasked to further accentuate the engineering capabilities and ensure that the technology at Koo is prepared to manage the next level of scale.

    “In order to give shape and direction to creating a robust technology platform, Koo has put together a best-in-class engineering team that will work closely with Gururaj in India,” said the company in a statement.

    “Koo is the first social media platform that is being built from scratch in India. With the number of languages and features, Koo will eventually offer a robust technology team that will be the backbone of this effort,” said Koo, co-founder & CEO, Aprameya Radhakrishna. “With tremendous experience in building and managing platforms, Phaneesh and team have the credentials to support the growth expected at Koo.”

    At the end of August 2021, Koo achieved one crore downloads in just 16 months of going live. Koo is currently available in eight languages and has several pioneering technology features, said the company.

  • Havas Group India onboards Pritha Dasgupta as CMO

    Havas Group India onboards Pritha Dasgupta as CMO

    Mumbai: Havas Group India has further reinforced its leadership team with the appointment of Pritha Dasgupta as chief marketing officer (CMO), effective immediately. She will be based in Mumbai and report to Havas Group India, group CEO, Rana Barua.

    “Dasgupta will be driving the marketing and communications function of the group and all the network companies and will be working closely with the senior leadership team in India and the global marketing and communications team,” said the statement.

    Welcoming Dasgupta on board, Rana Barua said, “As a group CMO, her vast experience and in-depth knowledge of the media ecosystem will prove to be invaluable to our network. She is a highly accomplished journalist and a professional with effective leadership and people skills. We are all thrilled to have her on board and look forward to a totally new way of marketing and communication in today’s times

    “We have extremely ambitious plans of further expansion, acquisitions and creating a meaningful difference in the overall Indian media and advertising ecosystem,” he added.

    Dasgupta is a media professional with over 15 years of work experience across marketing communications and journalism. She began her career in business journalism in 2005, following which she worked with leading publications, including Afaqs, Financial Express, CNBC-TV 18 Storyboard, Campaign India, and The Economic Times, through the next decade. In 2016, Dasgupta made the transition from journalism to corporate communications by launching the function for IPG Mediabrands India, where her most recent role was that of senior director, marketing & communications.

    Commenting on her new role, Dasgupta said, “It’s hard to define the dynamic transformation the advertising and the marketing industry has gone through in the last decade, especially in the space of martech. This led to a huge transformation in the way networks built their communications strategies.”

    “The industry is once again going through tectonic shifts, and Havas Group India is the only advertising network in the country that has created the role of a CMO. The visionary leadership at Havas Group India realises that only companies with the most impactful stories can own and lead this metamorphosis. That’s where I come in. I am extremely grateful to Rana and the entire team at Havas Group India for entrusting me to tell their stories,” she added.

  • Stellantis bolsters leadership team with key appointments in India

    Stellantis bolsters leadership team with key appointments in India

    Mumbai: Automotive company Stellantis on Tuesday announced a slew of appointments to bolster its leadership team in India. All appointees will report to Stellantis India, CEO & managing director Roland Bouchara, the statement said.

    The latest development follows the recent remodeling of the brands’ leadership in India with Saurabh Vatsa and Nipun J Mahajan taking over as brand heads for Citroen and Jeep, respectively.

    “The Stellantis India organisation is firmly in place with a rock-solid leadership,” Bouchara said. “The appointed senior executives, with their extensive experience, will support me in integrating our operations, strengthening our processes, and driving Stellantis India’s operations to the next level.”

    According to the automaker’s recent announcement, Joel Verany will be responsible for sales & marketing (S&M) efficiency for Stellantis in India. Joel, an automobile engineer by qualification, has worked with PSA, including Citroen India, for 20 years. Based in India since 2017, Joel previously was PCA India’s VP sales and network, Citroën.

    “Going forward, Joel will support both Jeep and Citroën brands in India to achieve volumes, maintain quality and profitability. Besides providing processes and tools for the entire ecosystem of sales & marketing, he will drive synergies for the overall scope of this function and deploy best practices for both brands,” the company said.

    Ashish Sahni will be at the helm of the customer journey & digital transformation for Stellantis in India, and also for digital transformation and performance marketing for the India & Asia Pacific (IAP) region. “Ashish has a strong track record and reputation as a digital strategist, marketing maven and business builder over 20 years, across industries such as automobiles, travel & tourism, insurance, and media. Under his leadership, Citroën India shaped its digital customer journey, which offers Indian customers a rather unique and seamless online experience and retail journey. His previous job was PCA India director of digital marketing,” the company said.

    Hitesh Jain, is appointed as general counsel, India within Stellantis IAP region and is responsible for legal functions for all Stellantis entities in India. Hitesh, a science and law graduate has two decades of work experience in a variety of legal and corporate secretarial roles across diverse organisations. He is also a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. Previously, Hitesh was responsible for legal and company secretary functions at the erstwhile FCA India.

    Puneet Sabharwal is responsible for finance at Stellantis India, and also assumes responsibility as the sales & marketing controller for Jeep as well as Citroën brands. He will be responsible for accounting, reporting, and taxation for India operations. Puneet is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has diverse work experience spanning 25 years in the automotive industry. Previously, Puneet was responsible for the finance function at PCA India.

    Samuel Jacob will be the head of human resources for the Stellantis IAP region as well as the India market. Samuel has 26 years of overall work experience, in India and overseas, across diverse industries such as hospitality, manufacturing, and aviation.

    Sreeji Kumar is responsible for information technology and digital transformation at Stellantis India. His role encompasses IT and technology solutions across sales and marketing, after-sales, manufacturing, import & export, connectivity, and R&D. A digital technology expert with over 21 years of work experience, Sreeji has worked with a variety of MNCs and industries. He joined the erstwhile PCA India as chief information officer, in 2020 and is credited to spearheading end-to-end IT solution deployment and activation of Citroën India manufacturing operations, including the C5 Aircross SUV launch in the market.

    M Raj Kalyanarajan, is responsible for vehicle manufacturing for the Citroën brand. His experience of 27 years spans automotive and earthmoving industries in India and in the US. Raj has been instrumental in reviving the brownfield car manufacturing facility at Thiruvallur from its idle state to its current operations, for manufacturing of the C5 Aircross SUV and future products.

    Xavier de Gaudemaris takes charge of supply chain operations at Stellantis India. Xavier has worked in the supply chain industry for over 20 years and his new role includes production planning, vehicle domestic, and export logistics.

    Moreover, Jerome Dubrac will oversee manufacturing finance in India and Vincent Baron for Hosur plant operations.

    Goëry Weymuller is responsible for customer experience in India within Stellantis India & Asia Pacific (IAP) region. He has spent 42 years working in PSA in R&D and quality positions in Europe, Latin America, and China before beginning his automotive customer and product stint in India four years ago. ” Goëry will be responsible for Citroën customer satisfaction including setting quality targets for new products till the final approbation of the vehicles after the completion of the manufacturing of the vehicle and before delivery to customers,” the company added.

  • Sony Pictures Networks India announces key leadership changes

    Sony Pictures Networks India announces key leadership changes

    Mumbai: As Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) gears up to embrace its Vision 3.0, the company on Monday revamped its organisational structure, making several leadership changes. These changes are effective immediately.

    Rohit Gupta has transitioned from his role as chief revenue officer – ad sales and international business and taken on the responsibility of being SPN’s advisor to the management and the board. In this new role, Rohit will be advising senior management on industry trends, developments and work closely with the CEO on various industry issues that could positively impact the company’s strategy and growth.

    Rajesh Kaul, in addition to his existing role as the chief revenue officer – distribution and business head – sports, will take on the charge of international sales and will work in collaboration with the digital team to expand SPN’s brand presence and reach across the world. The current international sales head Neeraj Arora will now be reporting directly to Kaul.

    Sandeep Mehrotra has been appointed head – ad sales, network channels. With an illustrious career, spanning over two and a half decades, Mehrotra has a proven record in driving revenues and delivering efficiencies to clients and businesses. Within SPN, he has moved multiple channels, regions and ranks and has invested his time in curating long-term client relationships with a unifocal thought of creating business solutions. In his new role, Sandeep will directly report to the CEO.

    Danish Khan, business head – Sony Entertainment Television, digital business, and StudioNext will take additional charge of network channels licensing. This alignment will enable an end-to-end view of opportunities at play between channels and digital and thereby enable us in taking decisions, best suited for the network’s growth.

    Tushar Shah, business head, English, factual entertainment & Sony Aath, takes on an additional role of the newly created position of chief marketing officer (CMO) for SPN. His expanded role will include taking the corporate brand to the consumer and furthering its reach besides managing his existing channel portfolio.

    Aditya Mehta, in addition to his current role of corporate strategy and business development, will spearhead the formation of data analytics CoE to strengthen SPN’s approach to being a data-driven organisation. He would also be responsible for business monetisation which will leverage the power of data and act as a bridge between digital & linear revenue opportunities.

    Nitin Nadkarni, chief finance officer (CFO) will take additional charge of the broadcast operations and network engineering (BONE) department. BONE head Kingshuk Bhattacharya will now report to Nadkarni.

    Speaking on the latest announcement, SPN, managing director & CEO, N.P. Singh said, “SPN has embarked on Vision 3.0 to create a future-ready organisation based on a culture powered by corporate values and a management structure backed by an operating model that accelerates growth. All leadership changes announced today are reflective of that evolutionary intent.

    SPN, CHRO, Manu Wadhwa, added, “The organisation remodeling is a result of our constant focus to strengthen our talent and leadership capabilities and will ensure that we stay ahead of the curve in a dynamic media and entertainment industry.”

  • boAt strengthens leadership team with three key appointments

    boAt strengthens leadership team with three key appointments

    Mumbai: Homegrown top audio and consumer lifestyle brand boAT has strengthened its leadership team as it aims to deepen its manufacturing and supply chain network in India and drive business transformation. The company appointed Shashwat Singh as chief information officer, Ankur Sharma as chief financial officer, and Prashant Kamal as head of India manufacturing and supply chain.

    The team will be based out of New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru offices, and work closely with the CEO Vivek Gambhir and co-founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

    Shashwat Singh comes with over 14 years of corporate experience in distinguished companies like Unilever, Kimberly Clark, and Asian Paints. Being a digital transformation leader at boAt, he will be creating an adaptable tech landscape to support the brand on its trail of growth.

    Ankur Sharma has vast experience spanning more than 16 years in financial management, developing/executing strategies, and delivering operational efficiency for both B2B and B2C organisations. He has been associated with eminent firms like ADA Group and Cravatex (Vans as well as Fila) in the past. At boAt, Sharma will be leading the company’s financial functions.

    Prashant Kamal holds a valuable experience of 21 years in the consumer durables & consumer electronics space. He has worked in the companies like Nokia, Microsoft, and Flextronics at a global level. At boAt, Kamal will spearhead the company’s Make in India manufacturing initiatives and make the supply future-ready.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Shashwat, Ankur, and Prashant to our core leadership team as we prepare for our next phase of growth,” Vivek Gambhir said. “All three of them bring a wealth of experience and best practices from global companies. Their values, skills and expertise will enable us to dramatically scale up and build a high-performance organization. Together, we look forward to bringing the best we have to offer to our community of boAtheads.”

    Currently, boAt has close to 250 members across its team in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru & is looking forward to enhancing its research and development (R&D) and further augmenting efforts to manufacture products in India