Sandeep Kumar Gupta takes over as GAIL India

Sandeep Kumar Gupta takes over as chairman and managing director of GAIL (India) Limited, the largest gas utility company nationwide. He replaces Manoj Jain, who superannuated from GAIL on August 31 and is expected to hold a term till February 2026. Gupta has since stepped down from his previous role as Director (Finance) at Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to join GAIL. He was Director of Finance at IOC since August 3, 2019, having invested 31 years of his work experience with IOC, the nation’s largest oil refining and fuel marketing company. In June, the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) approved Gupta’s selection, for the post of GAIL CMD. He took the charge after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved his selection. During his tenure as the Finance Director, of IOC, he handled almost the entire scale of finance and accounts activities and witnessed two severe volatile global oil price cycles and the deregulating of petrol and diesel prices in India. He is also on the board of IOC (Middle East FZE, Dubai) and Indian Oil Petronas Pvt Ltd. Gupta, is a commerce graduate and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is optimistic about aligning with the government’s vision of having a gas-based economy wherein the share of natural gas in the energy mix is planned to be increased to 15% by 2030.

Rajneet Kohli

Britannia ropes in Jubilant’s Kohli as ED & CEO

Britannia Industries Limited has roped in Jubilant FoodWorks’ Rajneet Kohli as its executive director (ED) and chief executive officer (CEO). India’s largest bakery and foods company Britannia Industries has inducted Kohli as the ED and CEO, effective September 26, 2022.In his most recent role before joining Britannia, he was President & Chief Business Officer with Domino’s since April 2021, prior to which Kohli was Executive Vice President & COO of Jubilant Foodworks. Kohli will directly report to Britannia’s Varun Berry, FMCG stalwart and the company’s newly elected Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director. In his 25 years long innings, he has had multiple leadership roles with Asian Paints (six years), Coca-Cola (14 years), and around four years with Jubilant FoodWorks, where he headed 1450 Domino’s restaurants in India. Under Kohli’s leadership, Jubilant FoodWorks emerged as the largest QSR (quick service and fast casual restaurant chain) in the country with over 1600 stores. Kohli is an alum of the Panjab University, Chandigarh, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, University of Wales, Cardiff, and engaged with the Leadership programme at the Columbia Business School.

Devika Bulchandani

Ogilvy appoints Devika Bulchandani as Global CEO

Devika Bulchandani takes over as the Global Chief Executive Officer of Advertising at Ogilvy, the international marketing and public relations giant. She becomes the latest entrant to the growing pack of Indian-origin business leaders steering multinational corporations. The Amritsar-born, Devika, has become the first-ever woman of colour to run a global agency network, succeeding Andy Main, who served as the Global CEO before her. It has been less than two years since she joined Ogilvy as Global President and CEO of North America, and she will now steer the company as the agency’s global CEO. Her new role entails overseeing Ogilvy’s creative network’s businesses across 131 offices in 93 countries, covering the entire gamut of advertising, public relations, consulting, experience, and health segments. In her initial stages, before joining Ogilvy, Devika had a 26 years-long innings at McCann in various leadership roles, including that as President of McCann, North America. Devika hails from Amritsar, was schooled at Welham Girls’ in Dehradun, and considers herself a Mumbaikar. She has a degree in English and Psychology from Mumbai’s St Xavier’s College. She later pursued a Master’s in Communication from the University of South California. Devika became one of the few non-White people to have joined an advertising agency in the US. In years to come, she became the creative force behind several noteworthy campaigns, including Mastercard’s long-running “Priceless” and the 2017 “Fearless Girl” campaign, which focused on workplace gender diversity. She is also known for her Unilever and Kraft campaigns.

Lalit Bhasin

Lalit Bhasin elected as the IACC National President

Eminent lawyer Lalit Bhasin, Managing Partner, Bhasin & Co, Advocates, has been elected National President of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). Bhasin was previously the IACC Executive Vice President and was elevated to the 54th National President of the IACC. The institution was set up in October 1968 and headquartered in Mumbai, with 14 offices. The distinguished lawyer, with 60 years of legal standing, was instrumental in steering the Indo-US Economic Summit, the annual signature event of IACC, which has already completed 19 editions. In his 60 years of illustrious legal practice, he has held prestigious positions, including that of the immediate Past President of the Bar Association of India, President Society of Indian Law Firms, Member of the International Bar Association, and Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators – India, Honorary Life Member National Committee on Legal Services International Court of Arbitration Paris. He has been honoured with several prestigious awards for his legal services, including a Doctor of Laws (LL. D.) Honoris Causa by Jaipur University (2013), the Prime Minister of India’s Plaque of Honour for outstanding contribution to the Rule of Law (2002), and the President of India’s National Law Day Award (2007).

Oindrila Majumdar

Oindrila Majumdar takes charge as new CEO with TIAA GBS

Oindrila Majumdar takes over as the new chief executive officer (CEO) with TIAA Global Business Services (GBS) India, the global capability center of TIAA. Effective October 2022, Oindrila will report to Sastry Durvasula, the chief information and client services officer at TIAA, a leading provider of secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions. She succeeds former CEO Jayant Patwardhan, who has been promoted as Executive Chairman at TIAA GBS India. Oindrila brings 25+ years of experience working at prestigious organisations, including Standard Chartered Bank and Fidelity Investments. Oindrila was the Managing Director at Deutsche Bank for 10+year. She has been associated with TIAA GBS India since 2018 and has been leading key client services and technology roles across retirement services and Nuveen asset management businesses. She was the campus head in Pune and chaired TIAA GBS India’s corporate social responsibility operating committee that delivers impact within the local communities. She is an Economics graduate from the University of Calcutta.

Srikanth Iyengar

Iyengar to take over as CEO of upGrad

One of Asia’s largest edtech companies, upGrad, has named Srikanth Iyengar as the CEO of Workforce Development (North America and Europe), effective September 2022. Iyengar is expected to build and scale up a B2B proposition for upskilling experienced technology professionals. He will leverage the company’s technology curriculums, tap its significantly large alums, and deliver tangible learning outcomes. Iyengar is expected to establish a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) framework for a productive workforce. He comes with 20+ years of work experience across North America and Europe. He helmed large multinational businesses across diverse industries and a portfolio of around 2000 global clients across North America, Europe, and APAC regions in previous stints. His expertise in technology-led business transformation, IT solutions, FMCG, and Skills and Training Development has driven strong brand recognition for the company. Srikanth is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (Lucknow), MIT Sloan FinTech, and the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP).

Dr. Vivek Murthy

President Biden nominates Dr. Murthy as WHO’s US rep

President Joe Biden has nominated US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as the US representative on the World Health Organization (WHO) board. Indian-origin Dr. Vivek Murthy will continue to hold his position as the US Surgeon General while taking on the additional WHO role. He is also the Vice Admiral of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and commands a uniformed service of over 6,000 dedicated public health officers. Dr. Murthy is the first Surgeon General of Indian lineage and was raised in Miami. He is a Harvard graduate and an alumnus of the Yale School of Medicine and the Yale School of Management. He served as the 19th Surgeon General during President Barack Obama’s regime. Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, Dr. Murthy was born to immigrants from Karnataka.

Karan Adani

Gautam Adani onboards son; rejigs ACC and Ambuja Cements’ board

Billionaire Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, has inducted son Karan and nephew Pranav to join the boards of ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements Ltd as part of his succession planning with two of the country’s oldest cement companies. Adani has also injected ₹20,000 crores in Ambuja Cement. Gautam Adani will head Ambuja Cements, and his son Karan has been named as a director of both the cement firms and chairman of ACC Ltd. Karan, 35, is an economics graduate from Purdue University, U.S., and has been leading Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, which has grown from two ports to a string of 10 ports and terminals. Gautam Adani’s younger son, Jeet, is vice president of the company’s group finance and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania - School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Senior Adani’s move follows an overhaul of the top management and board of the two cement makers, coming close on the heels of Adani’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Ambuja Cements and ACC, including the buyout of the Swiss major Holcim’s state in the two firms. Following Adani’s takeover, the cement firms announced the resignation of their board of directors, including the CEOs and CFOs. The Adani group has rejigged its board and onboarded Jayant Kumar as CHRO for ACC and Ambuja Cement, and Jai Khurana has stepped in as head HR at Adani Ports & SEZ. The company has also named independent directors; Rajnish Kumar, former State Bank of India (SBI) chairman, on the Ambuja Cement board, and Nitin Shukla, former Shell India head, on the ACC board.

Megha Tata

Megha Tata takes reins as CEO of VFX major Cosmos Maya

Media exponent Megha Tata has been roped in as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cosmos-Maya India (formerly Maya Digital Studios), one of India’s most prominent animation production companies. Megha will oversee the company’s operations in her new avatar and lead its animation studio into its next growth phases. She is expected to play an important role as the company pumps in some $50 million investment plans, facilitating its growth and expansion in Europe and North America. An industry veteran, Megha brings 30+ years of experience and expertise in managing television network operations in the Media and Entertainment industry. Before joining Cosmos-Maya, she was Managing Director at Discovery Communications India and has held leadership positions with broadcast companies, including HBO, BTVI, Turner International India, and Star India. From 2016-2018, Megha was the Vice President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter. She is the President of the IAA - India Chapter and the second woman to hold the position. Besides her professional insight, she considers herself an adrenaline junkie, a “wannabe biker,” and a believer in spirituality. A recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) media industry report states that the Indian animation and VFX industry has the potential to reach 20-25% of the global market share by 2025.