Sudhir Sitapati
Managing Director and CEO, Godrej Consumer Products Limited
Sudhir Sitapati is the Managing Director and CEO of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). GCPL is one of India’s largest consumer goods multinationals with a presence in over 85 countries, and serving 1.2 billion consumers. Sudhir is responsible for guiding the purpose and ambition of the company; to bring the goodness of health and beauty to consumers in emerging markets.
Prior to this, Sudhir worked at Unilever for 22 years where he led teams across several categories and functions in India, Europe, South East Asia, and Africa. His last job was as an Executive Director - Foods and Refreshments at Hindustan Unilever
He is current Co-chair of the CII FMCG Committee and a past Co-chair of the CII National Committee of Food Processing. Sudhir was awarded the ‘Young Alumni Achiever’ by his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in 2017. He is also the author of the best-selling book 'The CEO Factory: Management lessons from Hindustan Unilever'.
Sudhir has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a B.Sc. in Math with Economics Honours from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Sudhir is married to Ketki and spends his free time trying to get his children, Sahaana and Kabir, interested in his own hobbies — tennis, Hindustani music, farming and scrabble. So far to not much avail.
Navaneeth L V
CEO , The Hindu Group
Mr. Navaneeth, worked in Mindshare, Jakarta, Indonesia as leader of trading between March 2016 and May 2019 before coming back home to The Hindu Group as CEO from June 2019. For him, this represents homecoming: he served this organisation between 1998 and 2006 in a senior position in Advertising and Marketing. Going on to get a diverse media experience in radio, television, media planning and buying, and digital advertising, he brings with him the expertise and hands-on experience to play an effective leadership role in the Company in the face of far-reaching changes and challenges in the media landscape and in an increasingly interconnected digital ecosystem.
Before moving abroad in 2016, Mr. Navaneeth led the programming teams at Sun Tv Network's Kannada and Telugu language channels as vice president from September 2009-2015 . He has also worked with Radio One as station director and head of programming from August 2006-2009.
Mr. Navaneeth, gained varied and useful insights; thanks to working for traditional brands with heritage and enviable lineage, setting up a new business with an entrepreneurial outlook, working with entertainment brands that established market leadership positions in a reasonably short span of time and being part of businesses where the only constant is change. He also used his time to consult a couple of startups in the Food and Beverage space.
Harish Mehta
Chief Executive Officer , The Hindu Group
As the CEO of Reliance BP Mobility Ltd, fuels and mobility JV of Reliance and bp, Mr. Mehta is ushering the mobility revolution in India through a bouquet of best in class, technology intensive and sustainable energy offerings. With an eye on net zero aspirations, Mr. Mehta has set up country-wide EV charging and gaseous fuel network to expedite customer shift to clean energy solutions. Building from scratch, he has set RBML on path of being India’s leading chargepoint operator. Alongside CNG, he is helming venture’s retailing of Bio- CNG & Hydrogen.
Through be-spoke high performance fuels, Mr. Mehta has set the ball rolling to elevate the bar for Indian fuel standards. He has enhanced the catchment range of gas station by deploying pioneering on-demand door-step fuelling. Anchored on technology, he has led venture’s aviation line to record highs in bottom and top line.
For bringing global fuelling experience to India, Mr. Mehta is deploying a suite of industry leading propositions including Convenience for ‘’Food on the Go’’ and Multi partner coalition Loyalty program. He has taken bp’s convenience brand, Wild Bean Cafe to High Street, a global first, competing with the best Coffee joints in India.
Before taking over as RBML CEO, Mr. Mehta was President – Refining & Marketing at Reliance overseeing domestic petroleum marketing for the World’s largest refining complex. Prior to Reliance, he had a three-decade tenure with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. An Electrical Engineering Alumnus from Thapar Engineering College, Punjab; he is a regular invitee at international forums and Government committees on Oil & Gas.
Himanshu Bakshi
Managing Director , Sanofi
Mr. Himanshu Bakshi is the Managing Director of Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India Limited and is responsible for leading operations in India and Zone Lead for neighboring countries. A results-driven business leader, Himanshu comes with more than 24 years of experience in some of the most competitive FMCG, OTC Healthcare and Surface Care categories across multiple geographies and cultures. He has handled large teams in varied roles across sales and marketing including management of multi-functional and multi-cultural teams, management of media, market research and design agencies, and sales and commercial Management in different geographies. Before joining Sanofi, Himanshu has worked at Danone, Dabur, PepsiCo and Reckitt Benckiser across various roles and geographies.
Mr. Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan
CEO& MD (Designate) , TTK Prestige
Venkatesh is a Chemical Engineer from Anna University, Chennai, with a PGDMM from Times School of Marketing, Delhi. He was part of the Global Leadership Executive Management Program from Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a proud recipient of the Fulbright- CII “Leadership in management” fellowship awarded by Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, USA.
Post his engineering degree , Venkatesh began the corporate journey at Indian Organic Chemicals Ltd. & spent a couple of years with Reliance Industries as part of the projects and production units . Post his PGDMM , he moved into telecom sector during its launch years in India and has spent over 19 extensive years in telecom with Bharti Airtel and Escorts Group. During his long successful tenure at Airtel (15 years) , he has worked across various leadership roles across both strategy and operations.
Post a successful telecom stint , he transitioned to FMCG sector to spearhead Cavinkare – a Chennai based FMCG pioneer as CEO & Director handling a portfolio of businesses including personal care , professional care , foods & beverages.
Venkatesh has joined TTK Prestige as Chief Executive Officer & MD (designate) and will help the company navigate its next phase of growth and scale newer heights.
An avid reader, marathoner, and passionate traveller, he counts his living in 10 cities over last 27 years as a great gift that has enriched his understanding of diverse Indian cultures, contributing to a better appreciation of the nuances of the Indian consumer.