Ex-Infosys co-founder to chair RBI's Innovation Hub

Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and former co-chairman of Infosys, takes on the reins as the first chairperson of Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH). RBIH, under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will team up with financial sector institutions, technology industry and academic institutions to coordinate efforts for exchange of ideas and development of prototypes that are related to financial innovations. In this, RBIH would be guided and managed by a governing council led by a Chairperson. "The RBIH shall create an eco-system that would focus on promoting access to financial services and products," RBI said, and added, "this will also promote financial inclusion". The other members of the governing council include Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Institute Professor, IIT-Madras, H Krishnamurthy, Principal Research Scientist, IISc, Bengaluru, Gopal Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Capital Funds, A P Hota, Former CEO, National Payments Corporation of India, Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, Former CMD, Syndicate Bank and ex-officio members from RBI, T Rabi Sankar, Executive Director, Deepak Kumar, CGM, Department of Information Technology, K Nikhila, Director, Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology, Hyderabad.

Katial, CEO, ZEE5 India, steps down

Tarun Katial, CEO of ZEE5 India has stepped down from his leadership role having lead India's largest ConTech brand for over two years. Katial's expertise has enabled in building up of the video streaming over the top platform owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. While his immediate plans have yet to be disclosed, industry sources revealed that he might be planning on launching something of his own. The move comes after an organisational restructuring wherein businesses have been divided under separate verticals of content, technology, and revenue and monetisation. Katial has been with Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) since November 2016 and was appointed as CEO in May 2018 with additional responsibilities at ZEE including television and digital content production. Prior to joining ZEE5, Katial was the founder COO-CEO at BIG FM. In previous roles, he was a part of the leadership team as CEO with Anil Ambani's Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL). Katial's 23 years of illustrious career graph began as an MBA graduate with Saatchi & Saatchi, moving on to Enterprise Nexus Lowe and Ogilvy & Mather. He took charge as the Head of Content and Communications with Star Network India before joining Sony Entertainment Television as Business Head.

Ex-McCann President takes over as CEO, Ogilvy

Devika Bulchandani has taken over as the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Ogilvy, North America and as global chairwoman of advertising. Devika, ex-President McCann Worldgroup becomes the second Indian origin official to head Ogilvy following Piyush Pandey as the agency's worldwide chief creative officer in the top deck. In her new role, she is expected to drive Ogilvy's core business across the United States and Canada across widths in covering advertising, brand and content, public relations and influence, experience, growth and innovation and health; while also supporting Ogilvy's advertising business across its global network. In previous roles, Bulchandani has been a dedicated McCann Worldwide doyen as President for McCann Worldgroup, North America since December 2019 and as President of McCann New York, the company's lead office. She joined McCann New York's strategy department in 1997 and has played a key role in transforming Mastercard's 'Priceless' advertising concept into a global business platform. She is also the founding member of 'Times Up' Advertising, championing equality for women in advertising and for women of colour.

Navneet Munot is new MD CEO of HDFC Asset Management

Seasoned fund manager, Navneet Munot has been roped in as the new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HDFC Mutual Fund. Munot will succeed current MD, Milind Barve, while he relinquishes his 12 year long association with SBI Mutual and his role as its Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Earlier this year, Barve was re-appointed as the MD of the company, not liable to retire by rotation, for a period with effect from November 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021, subject to the approval of the members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting. Prior to his stint with SBI Mutual, Munot was a fund manager at Morgan Stanley Asset Management and CIO (fixed income) at Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund. An expert in handling investor money for almost two decades, industry watchers, however, anticipate that Munot might face a stiff task of finding his feet as a newcomer with the HDFC Group. While Prashant Jain, veteran CIO at HDFC Mutual fund has been the public face of the fund house since 2003, Chirag Setalvad, is yet another senior fund manager, who has been with HDFC Mutual since 2007. Insiders said that while it will not be easy for Munot, his advantage lay in his understanding of fund management.

Adani overtakes Ambani in wealth creation

Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, has been the highest wealth creator amongst all the richest Indians in 2020, overtaking Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd and Asia's richest man. Adani's wealth surged by $19.1 billion this year, higher than that of Mukesh Ambani's $16.4 billion added so far in 2020. This translated to INR 1.41 lakh crore being added in the first 10.5 months of 2020 or nearly INR 449 crore getting added every day. Adani is the world's 9th biggest wealth creator, ahead of Steve Ballmer, Larry Page and Bill Gates. His wealth has increased to $30.4 billion this year, making him the 40th richest person globally, which can be attributed to a rise in the share prices in 2020 of Adani Green (551%), Adani Gas (103 %), Adani Enterprises (85%), Adani Transmission (38%) and Adani Ports (4%). However, there has been a slump in the shares of Adani Power by 38% during the same period. Despite Adani's gains, Mukesh Ambani's total wealth stands at $75 billion including the additional $16.4 billion in 2020 as per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index and is the 10th richest in the world.

Samtani elevated as partner with Goldman Sachs

Gunjan Samtani, head of Goldman Sachs Services in India, has been promoted as a partner at the global investment bank with effect from January 2021 along with three other executives in Asia as part of its biennial partner promotions.

Samtani is a part of the Partner Class of 2020, comprising of 60 executives who have been invited to become partners at Goldman Sachs. 'The Partner Class reflects a highly selective process identifying each new generation to helm Goldman Sachs' future senior leadership. About 7% of the partners promoted this year are based in Asia, compared to 14% some two years back. A little more than a quarter of the 60 partners are women, with about 27% working in more than one division and the average tenure being 14 years. About 53% of the chosen partners started as campus hires with new partners being inducted every two years. Samtani gained brownie points for his contribution in growing Goldman Sachs's Bengaluru centre, the company's second largest office after New York. The Bengaluru centre with over 6,000 employees work across all aspects of business services provided by the financial institution including securities, asset management, banking, risk, compliance, internal audit and human capital management. The Bengaluru centre has been instrumental in the development of Goldman Sachs' new consumer bank the Marcus platform. The company is setting up another tech hub in Hyderabad which is expected to commence operations in the second half of 2021 with an initial strength of about 500 employees.

Manisha Natarajan joins Sotheby's Realty arm

Manisha Natarajan is the new Senior Advisor, Brand Communication & Editorial for India Sotheby's International Realty (India SIR). In her new role with India Sotheby's it entails strengthening the brand outreach through a content-led communication strategy, also creating and leading knowledge-led media partnerships. She will be supporting brand awareness for the Sotheby's Realty's 'Keystone' program, in India. Manisha brings in her 20-plus year experiences in building brands through digital and content-led communication strategy. Synonymous with her flagship primetime shows Urban Reality, The Property Show and Let's Talk Money, Manisha's experiences are drawn from her previous roles as an anchor, editor and columnist with notable media houses like NDTV, CNBC TV18 and the Indian Express. In her most recent portfolio with Brookfield Properties, as the head of its brand and communications department, provided her with the springboard and an insider's perspective on India's real estate sector. The SIR networks across 72 countries and territories with 1000 offices and 23,000 sales associates with a record real estate global sales volume of $114 Billion in the year 2019. With its offices in Mumbai, Kolkata, Colombo, the team in India comprises of senior private bankers and global experts from real estate, hospitality and luxury goods industries.

Michael Clarke joins as CEO-CHRO, Hero MotoCorp

Hero MotoCorp has appointed Michael Clarke, a global mobility expert as Chief Operating Officer, with the additional role of Chief Human Resources Officer with effect from January 2021. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) of the two wheeler giant has approved the appointment wherein, Clarke will report to Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp. Clarke's appointment comes close on the heels of recent strengthening and augmentation of the leadership team at Hero MotoCorp. Clarke is expected to contribute by providing his strategic leadership acumen in operational excellence and will also drive Hero's talent agenda. Clarke brings in more than 25 years of global experience in publicly listed companies in the U.S. and the UK. His experiences in leadership roles span across sector giants such as the Fiat Group SPA and Delphi Technologies. He is an expert in manoeuvring through complex operations, international restructuring, organisational and cultural change, which is expected to enable Hero MotoCorp to consolidate its market leadership across continents.

Rejigs at Volkswagen India

In a leadership rejig auto giant, Volkswagen India, has inducted Priyesh Kumar, the current Head of Dealer Development as the new head of its sales vertical and P Ravichandran, the current head of Aftersales to take over as the head of Dealer Development with effect from December 1, 2020. Both Kumar and Ravichandran will be reporting to Ashish Gupta, brand head, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India and is expected to drive the automaker's business goals as the brand prepares for its India 2.0 project. The duo, old hands at Volkswagen have extensive experience in the automotive sector and in their respective domains to steer the brand's India objectives.

Aakash ropes in Ex-Byju's President as its new CEO

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), a leader in test preparatory services, has roped in Abhishek Maheshwari as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Maheshwari was the President of International Business at Byju's the Learning App, an educational technology (edtech) and online tutoring firm prior to joining AESL. In his new role, Maheshwari will be responsible for strategy formulation and management of core offerings at AESL, including digital as well as classroom, hybrid, and distance learning programmes. An alumnus of IIT Delhi and Columbia Business School, New York, Maheshwari brings in over 20 years of his experience, in his previous roles as Country Head for Disney leading all its brands and businesses in India and with Kubera Partners and McKinsey.

Piramal Enterprises appoints Anjali Bansal

Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL) has appointed Anjali Bansal, Founder and Chairperson, Avaana Group, as an independent director to its board with effect from November 2020. Her appointment to the PEL Board is aligned to the company’s succession planning of independent board directors, which also follow the recent induction of Kunal Bahl, CEO and Co-Founder, Snapdeal, and Suhail Nathani, Managing Partner, Economic Law Practice to the PEL board. Bansal, founder and chairperson of Avaana Group, invests and provides scaling up support to technology and innovation companies. A former non-executive Chairperson of Dena Bank, Bansal was Global Partner and Managing Director with TPG Growth Capital. She was Global Partner and India CEO with Spencer Stuart where she co-led their Asia Boards’ practice. She started her career as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Co. in New York. Bansal is an independent non-executive director on the board of Siemens Ltd, Tata Power, Voltas and Delhivery. She has invested in and mentored various successful startups including, Delhivery, UrbanClap, Darwinbox, Nykaa, and Lenskart. A member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Charter Member of TiE, she is also associated with NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform, Digital Solutions, and Atal Innovation Mission.

Swati Mohan steps down from Netflix

Swati Mohan, Director (marketing) at Netflix India has stepped down after two years, since joining the company’s leadership team in India in 2018. She spearheaded and launched successful marketing campaigns for the American streaming platform. Prior to joining Netflix, she was country head with National Geographic and Fox Networks Group India and an integral part of their leadership teams. Her career graph began some two decades ago at Ogilvy & Mather (now Ogilvy). She has also taken up leadership roles with Mindshare (GroupM) and Maxus in the past.

Xiaomi India promotes Kasturi Paladhi

Kasturi Paladhi has been promoted as Xiaomi India’s Head of PR and Corporate Communications from her previous role as a Public Relations Manager at Xiaomi India. Responsible for managing their public relations and 360-degree communication narratives, Paladhi will also handle the company’s internal and external communications. Her previous experiences are drawn from working with agencies as well as with brands. Paladhi has had previous stints with organisations like MSL Group, Genesis Foundation, Genesis BCW, Black Shark and CAF India amongst others.

Abinash Nanda is new CEO of e-learning platform, edWisor

Abinash Nanda has joined e-learning platform, edWisor as its Chief Operating Officer (CEO). He brings in a decade of experience working in both MNCs and startups across various industries including Tata Steel, ZS Associates, Paytm, and Livspace in senior management positions. At edWisor, Nanda will be in charge of managing day-to-day business affairs and scaling the business profitably by drawing from his expertise in working with high growth startups in areas of business strategy and operations, business excellence, and sales operations. edWisor provides short-term courses in small batches for ensuring a one-on-one learning experience in areas of data science, MEAN stack developer, frontend developer, and web development.