Talent Tracker of the Week: Key leadership moves across FMCG, tech, media and agencies

New Delhi: This week’s talent movements span global corporations, creative agencies, technology firms, and media networks. Senior leadership changes include key appointments in consumer goods, market research, and digital platforms, alongside new roles across finance, marketing, strategy, and communications. From P&G and HUL to Ipsos, OpenAI, and Shemaroo Entertainment, the announcements reflect ongoing shifts in leadership as companies prepare for growth, transformation, and global integration.

P&G appoints Freddy Bharucha as CEO of beauty division

Procter and Gamble has named Freddy Bharucha as CEO of its global beauty division from 1 December 2025. He succeeds R. Alex Keith, who retires in February 2026.

Bharucha, with 36 years at P&G and over 20 in beauty across China, North America and Asia, is currently President of Global Personal Care and North America Beauty Operations. He will be based in Geneva.

The company also named Artur “Litar” Litarowicz as President of Personal Care,

Jean-Laurent Poitou becomes CEO of Ipsos, succeeds Ben Page

Ipsos has appointed Jean-Laurent Poitou as Chief Executive Officer, effective 15 September, succeeding Ben Page.

An engineer from École Polytechnique, Poitou brings over 30 years of international experience, including senior roles at Accenture and leading Alvarez & Marsal’s Digital and Technology Services practice in EMEA. His background spans digital transformation, technology services, and AI initiatives.

HUL appoints Niranjan Gupta as CFO; Ritesh Tiwari to lead Unilever’s Global M&A & Treasury

Hindustan Unilever has named Niranjan Gupta as Chief Financial Officer–Designate and member of the Management Committee, effective September 1, 2025. He will succeed Ritesh Tiwari as Executive Director, Finance and CFO, and join the HUL Board on 1 November 2025, subject to approvals.

Gupta, who will report to Priya Nair, CEO & MD, HUL, began his career at the company and spent two decades across leadership roles before moving to Vedanta and later Hero MotoCorp, where he became CEO in 2023.

Tiwari, CFO of HUL since 2021, will relocate to London to take over as Global Head of M&A and Treasury at Unilever Plc. During his tenure, he oversaw key acquisitions, portfolio changes and the demerger of the ice cream business into Kwality Walls (India) Limited.

Former Netflix Executive Akash Iyer moves to OpenAI India

Akash Iyer, who spent over six years with Netflix India’s marketing and social teams, has joined OpenAI as Social Lead for its India operations. Announcing the move on LinkedIn, he called it “a deep responsibility” to contribute to building AGI for humanity. At Netflix, Iyer worked across films and series marketing, social strategy, and editorial content. His earlier roles include stints at BuzzFeed India, Sportskeeda, The Glitch, and RR Donnelley.

OpenAI appoints Sheeladitya Mohanty as India Marketing Lead

OpenAI has appointed Sheeladitya Mohanty as its Marketing Lead for India, ahead of opening its first New Delhi office later this year. Mohanty, who announced the move on LinkedIn, joins from Meta, where he led marketing for Meta AI and Facebook across Asia-Pacific and played a key role in the Facebook-to-Meta rebrand in India. With over 15 years of experience, he has also worked with Microsoft and Nokia India and is an XLRI Jamshedpur graduate.

Shemaroo Entertainment expands Anuja Trivedi’s role to CSMO

Shemaroo Entertainment has elevated Anuja Trivedi to Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer (CSMO), expanding her responsibilities to include both marketing and the central strategy team. In this role, she will lead strategic initiatives and drive cross-functional alignment across the company’s business verticals.

Trivedi joined Shemaroo as Chief Marketing Officer in 2023 and has since strengthened brand visibility across its TV, OTT, and digital platforms. She brings wide-ranging experience in strategy, revenue, and content development, with past leadership roles at Disney Star, World Gold Council, McKinsey & Company, Morgan Stanley, and PwC. At Disney Star, she oversaw content strategy for TV and digital, helping scale Disney+ Hotstar’s subscriber base and expand market share in television.

ShareChat appoints Neha Markanda as Chief Business Officer

ShareChat (Mohalla Tech) has appointed Neha Markanda as Chief Business Officer for ShareChat and Moj, where she will oversee revenue strategy, business growth, and partnerships across India.

Markanda joins from Google India, where she was Head of Industry, E-commerce, leading strategy across multiple verticals and contributing to AI-driven solutions in retail and health technology.

With over two decades of experience, she has previously held senior roles at Meta (Facebook), GSK Consumer Healthcare, PepsiCo, ITC, and HCL Technologies, bringing expertise in brand building, marketing strategy, and business transformation.

Hero MotoCorp appoints Latika Taneja as Head of Corporate Communications, Corporate Affairs and CSR

Hero MotoCorp has named Latika Taneja as Head of Corporate Communications, Corporate Affairs and CSR, effective 19 August 2025. She will be responsible for brand narrative, stakeholder engagement, and social impact initiatives within the company’s growth framework.

With more than 23 years of experience, Taneja has worked in corporate communications, policy, advocacy, and CSR at Shell, Mastercard, DuPont, Alcatel-Lucent, and MetLife. Most recently, she was Head of Corporate Relations at Shell India.

EY India appoints Gaurav Bhalotia as Chief Technology Officer

EY India has named Gaurav Bhalotia as its new CTO, where he will lead innovation and technology strategy, strengthening the firm’s AI-powered and software-led business solutions. With over two decades of experience, he has held leadership roles at Udaan as CTO and Flipkart as VP of Engineering, besides founding the wellness platform FindMyHealth. Bhalotia will focus on building scalable platforms and enhancing digital assets for clients across industries.

Hansgrohe Group appoints Abdulkader Bengali as Managing Director for India operations

Hansgrohe Group has named Abdulkader Bengali as MD for India, effective 18 August 2025. Bringing over 25 years of leadership experience in construction and building materials, he has held senior roles at Sintex BAPL, ALP Aeroflex and Owens Corning. Bengali takes charge at a time when India’s bathroom fittings market is projected to touch USD 11.49 billion in 2025, with strong growth in the luxury segment.

DEPT® appoints Rohit Shukla and Nitin Kediyal to lead data and commerce practices in India

Global technology and marketing services company DEPT® has named Rohit Shukla as Head of Data Practice and Nitin Kediyal as Head of Commerce Practice for its India operations. Shukla, with expertise in Adobe Experience Platform and data transformation, will oversee data strategy and analytics. Kediyal, who has over 16 years of experience in Adobe Commerce and composable architectures, will lead engineering and performance for digital commerce programmes

22feet Tribal WW re-appoints Anvita Arora as VP & Mumbai Head; Shyam Nair as ECD

22feet Tribal Worldwide has announced the appointment of Anvita Arora as Vice-President & Head of Mumbai and Shyam Nair as Executive Creative Director.Arora has experience working across digital, content, and strategy at Yahoo, Ogilvy, Supari Studios, Kulfi Collective, and most recently, Creativeland Asia. With leadership roles at VML, Lowe, and Creativeland Asia, Nair has led campaigns for brands like Disney Star, Netflix, and Spotify.

Delon Mascarenhas and Mitushi Sharma join BBH India as EVPs

BBH India, part of Publicis Groupe India, has appointed Delon Mascarenhas and Mitushi Sharma as Executive Vice-Presidents, reporting to Himanshu Saxena, Managing Director and COO. The agency has also elevated Ashwin Palkar and Nisheeth Srivastava to Senior Executive Creative Directors, who will continue reporting to Chief Creative Officer Parikshit Bhattacharya. Mascarenhas, with over 25 years of experience in brand strategy, digital, and content marketing, has worked with brands such as McDonald’s, HUL, Red Bull, and Dream11. Sharma, an advertising professional with more than two decades of experience, has previously managed portfolios for Nivea, Whirlpool, Mahindra, Skechers and several Unilever brands.

Havas Media India appoints Sonal Jadhav as Managing Partner, West

Havas Media India has named Sonal Jadhav as Managing Partner– West. Based in Mumbai, she will report to Uday Mohan, COO, Havas Media & Havas Play India, and work closely with the network’s leadership team.

Jadhav, who has nearly 20 years of experience in media, joins from Mindshare, GroupM, where she was Principal Partner, Client Leadership, overseeing accounts such as SBI Life, Byju’s, Schneider Electric, and Lauritz Knudsen. She has also held leadership roles at Wavemaker, managing the ITC Personal Care portfolio, and at Mindshare Fulcrum, where she led the Unilever skincare mandate. Earlier in her career, she worked on brands including Kellogg’s, ICICI and Rio Tinto.

FCB NEO appoints Binay Mehra as Senior Vice President

FCB NEO, part of FCB India, has appointed Binay Mehra as Senior Vice President. He brings 17 years of experience in the advertising industry, with expertise across categories including food, beverage, fashion, sports, real estate, and politics.

Over the past decade, Mehra has handled key portfolios at PepsiCo Foods through various agencies, most recently leading the Lay’s and Quaker business. His work included integrated campaigns, innovation support, and digital transformation initiatives.

Khyati Sarang joins a t o m network as Head of Strategy Planning

a t o m network has appointed Khyati Sarang as its Head of Strategy Planning.Sarang is a MICA alum with 18 years of experience in brand strategy, having worked across Indian and global markets. She has previously led strategic mandates for several of Unilever’s brands including Sunsilk, Glow & Lovely, TRESemmé, Rin, Wheel and Lux. Her portfolio has also covered work with Tata Power, General Insurance Council (GIC) and Hershey’s.

In her new role, Sarang will lead the agency’s strategic planning function, working with creative and business leadership teams to deliver integrated solutions for clients in an increasingly fragmented media and consumer environment.

LS Digital appoints Dipali Mahesh as Managing Director for f1studioz UI/UX business

LS Digital has appointed Dipali Mahesh as Managing Director, UI/UX at its subsidiary, f1studioz.The UI/UX division will be co-led by Co-founder and Chief Designer, D. Dhayan Kumar, alongside Mahesh. Both will work with Prasad Shejale, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LS Digital.

Mahesh brings over 28 years of experience in media and technology, having previously held senior positions at Sony Pictures and Extreme Reach (formerly Adstream). She has managed multi-market operations across India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. In her new role, Mahesh will oversee the growth strategy of f1studioz, with a focus on scaling its international presence and strengthening its positioning as a UI/UX partner for enterprises undergoing business transformation.

Mythik appoints former Head of Jio Games Sidharth Kedia as COO

Entertainment firm Mythik has appointed former Head of Jio Games Sidharth Kedia as its Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately.Kedia will lead operations and strategic finance in the Mumbai-based firm, according to a company statement.Prior to this role, he has also served as Senior Vice President at Jio Platforms, CEO of esports firm Nodwin, and Chief Strategy Officer at Viacom18. 

Oneindia appoints Anand Sreenivasan as National Head of Monetisation and Special Projects

Oneindia has named Anand Sreenivasan as its National Head of Monetisation and Special Projects. In this role, he will oversee sales strategy, client engagement and revenue delivery across the platform’s digital, video, branded content and strategic offerings.

Sreenivasan brings over two decades of experience in integrated marketing and brand partnerships, having previously worked with Republic Media Network, Quint Digital, AETN Media and 9X Media, among others. At Oneindia, he will also focus on building regional sales teams and working with advertisers in high-growth sectors and markets.

Shashishekhar Mukherjee joins Dabur as General Manager, Digital Marketing and D2C

Dabur India has appointed Shashishekhar Mukherjee as General Manager, Digital Marketing and D2C. Mukherjee, with over 18 years of experience in digital strategy, e-commerce, and brand management, previously spent nearly a decade at Reckitt leading digital transformation initiatives.

He has also held leadership roles at GSK, Mindshare, GroupM, Quasar Media, Rediffusion Y&R, and Publicis Groupe. Beyond corporate roles, Mukherjee serves as a Board Advisor for the India Influencer Governing Council and is a member of the MMA APAC Retail Media Network.

Abhay Ojha moves on from ITV Network amid leadership churn

Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma-owned ITV Network continues to struggle to contain churn at the top level as its CEO for TV, Print, Digital, and Sports League Business, Abhay Ojha, exits the company.

Ojha joined ITV Network in February this year.Both ITV Network and Ojha declined to comment on the development. However, industry sources told BestMediaInfo.com that Ojha will remain with the company until the end of this month.

With over 25 years of experience, Ojha has worked with companies such as Zee Media, Star India, Zee Entertainment, Turner, and Hindustan Unilever.