Big CXO Moves in 2024: From Nestle and P&G to Ola and Zepto, leaders in, out and in-between
A recap of all the biggest moves in corporate India.
ADVERTISEMENT
In a year marked by strategic pivots and leadership transitions, corporate India's corner offices saw a remarkable wave of change in 2024. The departures and appointments at major companies reflected broader shifts in the business landscape, from artificial intelligence's growing influence to heightened focus on sustainability and corporate governance. Several high-profile executives who had steered their organizations through the post-pandemic era stepped aside, making way for successors tasked with navigating increasingly complex global markets and technological disruption. The turnover at the highest levels of business leadership spotlighted a growing recognition that traditional management approaches may need reinvention in an era of rapid technological advancement and evolving stakeholder expectations.
For more: Brand Makers and more here: CXO Moves
After an illustrious career of over 26 years with Nestlé Group, Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited will retire at the close of business hours on 31st July 2025. Manish Tiwary has been nominated to take over as the Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited with effect from 1st August 2025.Tiwary is a distinguished business executive with nearly three decades of experience in leading largescale operations and strategic initiatives within the e-commerce and consumer goods sectors. In his previous role, Tiwary was the Country Manager of Amazon India. He joined Amazon in 2016 after a 20-year career at Unilever, where he held roles in sales, marketing, and general management across various categories & channels in India, Gulf & North Africa. Tiwary is B. Tech in Computer Science and MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Samir Kumar joined Amazon in 1999 and was part of the core team that launched Amazon.in in 2013. Kumar is an engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. He got his master's degree from Utah State University in 1995
Google announced the appointment of Preeti Lobana as its new Country Manager and Vice President for India. In this role, Lobana will helm Google India's sales and operations, channelling the company's commitment to fostering inclusive digital opportunities and accelerating the country's vibrant digital economy. Lobana's arrival also paves the way for a strengthened leadership team. She will closely partner with Roma Datta Chobey, who previously served as the interim Country Manager and continues as Managing Director for Google India's Digital Native Industries. Chobey brings expertise across diverse sectors, from e-commerce and fintech to gaming and media, which Google's leadership belives will be critical as the big tech accelerates innovation and growth for these dynamic businesses.
P&G India's Board of Directors approved the appointment of Kumar Venkatasubramanian as Managing Director of P&G India for a period of five years effective May 1, 2024.
A marketing veteran, a marathoner and a product of the HUL CEO factory, Sudhanshu Vats led Viacom18 and EPL before he joined Pidilite Industries in 2021.
As the CEO designate, Shashwat Sharma will be responsible for the entire end-to-end consumer business. Gopal Vittal will be responsible for mentoring and grooming Sharma to take over as MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel Ltd.
Former YouTube India MD will spearhead JioCinema's revenue generation and growth initiative across sports and entertainment.
NP Singh first joined Sony in 1999 as CFO and later became the COO before becoming MD and CEO in 2014. Gaurav Banerjee, the next leader of SPNI was not present during the farewell ceremony.
Gaurav Banerjee holds a master's degree in filmmaking and TV production from Jamia Millia Islamia University and an undergraduate in History from St Stephens.
Nestle India's Rajat Jain, who is the foods business head, also leading MAGGI in South Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), is set to get a significant leadership role within the Nestle Group. Rupali Rattan, will succeed Jain as the head of the Foods Business. Gopichandar Jagatheesan will take over from Rattan, as head of Chocolates and Confectionery Business, and Manav Sahni will head Nestle's Dairy Business. The executives will be designated as Senior Management Personnel. The new roles will be effective January 1, 2025.
Former Castrol India MD Sandeep Sangwan is now leading global marketing, while Kedar Lele was appointed as India market MD for Castrol.
Castrol India Limited appointed Kedar Lele as the company's new Managing Director, effective 1 November 2024. Kedar joined Castrol India after a two-decade-long career at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), where he last served as the Executive Director of the company, responsible for sales and customer development, South Asia.
Sunil Kataria was the chief executive officer – Raymond Lifestyle (India & International), a position he held since March, 2022.
Ashwin Moorthy was also inducted into the GCPL Global Management Committee and will be part of the senior management.
Maruti Suzuki overhauled its executive team in a strategic move. Partho Banerjee became Head – Marketing and Sales. Shashank Srivastava was transferred from the position of Head – Marketing and Sales to ‘Member Executive Committee’
Effective February 1, 2025, Ranjita Ghosh will spearhead Wipro’s worldwide marketing operations, shaping its brand and driving global growth.
Narayanan, who joined the company in May 2023, was instrumental in leading the firm’s global expansion efforts and strengthening its leadership positioning. With his deep marketing expertise, he aimed to drive growth and leverage emerging digital trends to fuel the company's success.
DBS Bank has appointed Rajat Verma as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DBS Bank India. The appointment will be effective from 1 March 2025, in line with approval accorded by the Reserve Bank of India. Verma, currently Head of Institutional Banking Group (IBG) at DBS Bank India, will succeed Surojit Shome as CEO upon the latter’s retirement on 28 February 2025. In this new role, Verma will be part of DBS’ Group Management Committee.
Amazon Web Services deepened its commitment to India's digital transformation with a $12.7 billion investment plan by 2030, set to create 131,700 jobs and boost renewable energy projects.
In the rapidly evolving world of India's electric vehicle market, Ola Electric is experiencing significant leadership changes while simultaneously pursuing an ambitious retail expansion. Anshul Khandelwal, the company's Chief Marketing Officer, resigned, marking the second high-profile departure in recent months following Chief Technology Officer Suvonil Chatterjee's exit. Both departures come in the wake of a major corporate reorganization at the electric vehicle manufacturer. Khandelwal, who joined Ola's ecosystem in 2019 through Foodpanda, had risen through the ranks, transitioning from his role as Head of Marketing at Ola Foods to become the electric vehicle division's CMO. Ola had acquired Foodpanda in 2020.
Ola Cabs CEO Hemant Bakshi resigned after a short stint at the homegrown mobility player.
Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha will handle some of Gomez’s tasks, Zepto’s chief brand officer Chandan Mendiratta will head the other human resource (HR) functions as Chief Culture Officer,
ZEE5 had recently broadened Manish Kalra's responsibilities to include overseeing the platform's business across global markets.
Shailesh Sathyanarayanan will take over as Category Leader - Oral Care, starting January 1, 2025, as Gopalakrishnan Kalianna gets a new mandate at P&G. Kalianna, who is currently vice president and category head - Oral Care, P&G India, has accepted a change in assignment at P&G effectively immediately.
Prashant Mehta is an experienced digital transformation expert and joins WPP from Accenture, where he was Global Managing Director of Global Assets at Accenture Song, responsible for its generative AI-led asset strategy, delivery, and adoption.
Roshni Das has quit Intel after 19 years with the global organization. She headed Intel as regional chief marketing officer, GM, Asia Pacific and Japan, before she was was promoted as vice president - global marketing. Das has said she plans to take a short break the next few weeks, "sharpen new skills, travel, spend time with loved ones and be back to the corporate world in 2025." She added about her long run at Intel, "I have had an incredible run, and I leave with much pride in this iconic company and what it has enabled me to accomplish."
Previously, Samir Singh led Unilever as Chair, Unilever Asia and Head, Unilever Singapore Hub.
The Coca‑Cola Company's Arnab Roy was named president of the Coca‑Cola global category. Roy is a Coca‑Cola veteran who joined the company in 2001 and has most recently served as vice president of marketing for the India & Southwest Asia operating unit. In his new role, Roy is based in Coke's global HQ Atlanta. He succeeded Selman Careaga, who began a new role June 1 as president of the company’s ASEAN & South Pacific operating unit. Roy began his new role on September 1, reporting to Manolo Arroyo, executive vice president and global chief marketing officer.
Bhawna Sikka joined the sportswear major Adidas from Haleon. Bhawna Sikka, who was the category lead - Oral Healthcare, Haleon India (formerly GSK Consumer Healthcare), joined sportswear major Adidas as chief marketing officer. Sikka took over the role which was held by Sunil Gupta who left to join Delhi Capitals as chief executive officer. Sikka began her career at Nestle, where she held several key roles. As the senior brand manager - healthcare nutrition, Sikka was responsible for complete alignment of marketing strategies and products of Nestlé’s acquired health care nutrition portfolio. The portfolio acquired from Novartis Nutrition globally was integrated in India in 2010. Sikka has led work for assimilation of the range in Nestlé and a complete business and communication relaunch in 2012.
Krishnan Venkat Subramanian succeeded Shyam Srinivasan who stepped down after 14 years at the top.
Nykaa appointed Sukhleen Aneja as Senior Vice President and Business Head for Kay Beauty, Nykaa’s first-ever celebrity beauty brand in partnership with Katrina Kaif.
Dhar, who is also an author, has had long stints at P&G, General Mills, Kimberly-Clark.
Shiva Krishnamurthy, Harman Dhillon, Arun Neelakantan and Vipul Mathur joined HUL's top table - the managemnet committee after a recent rejig of leadership. Take a look at who they are.
Big Moves Globally
Anuradha Razdan, who is a graduate in economics from Ferguson College, Pune and holds an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, started her innings in Unilever in 1999.
Brian Niccol will join Starbucks on September 9, 2024 as the new CEO. Laxman Narasimhan is stepping down as CEO and as a director effective immediately. Rachel Ruggeri will serve as interim CEO.
Elliott Hill replaced John Donahoe as the top boss of the global sneaker and sportswear brand on 14 October
Jay Shah was the sole nominee for the chairmanship after current Chair Greg Barclay decided not to seek a third term.
From "believe in yourself" to "I know what to do," Brian Niccol's confidence and gut instinct landed him the top job at Starbucks.
Mark Schneider has resigned as CEO of Nestlé, with company veteran Laurent Freixe set to take over the role at the Swiss food giant.
“I want to be clear. I have no plan to retire,” said BBDO Worldwide's Andrew Robertson, as he moves to the Chairman role, making way for Nancy Reyes who will succeed him as President and CEO.
Kate Rouch previously led Coinbase as chief marketing officer.
Priya Nair joined Hindustan Unilever in 1995. Today, she's leading a 12 billion euro business group for Unilever globally.
