Ajai Puri — CEO

Over 40 yrs of experience in building businesses across FMCG, Media, Digital Bank & Telecom 1. Passionate about starting & building new businesss and brands-Cargill foods in India, Airtel DTH and start of airtel telecom operations in Orissa & Bengal 2. Scaling portfolio & driving operational excellence at large businesses-driving growth at airtel India and SE Asia gaining substantial market share in highly competitive market 3. Breath of experience across offline & Digital first businesses-Transforming airtel from largely physical to digital first telecom co. 4. Experience in building own retail footprint (>2k stores) for delivering Omni Channel experience 5. Most importantly, passionate about building teams and creating lasting ‘people leadership’ 20+ yrs of experience in FMCG ind, across businesses-leadership roles with P&L ownership, Sales and Mktg VST Industries (Group co of BAT, UK) : Led sales operations in India, Middle East. Last assignment being Sr VP, Trade Mktg, Exports and IT and member of management board of VST Ind Cargill India (Leading USA food giant): Conceptualised and launched brand for staple food category in india. Created a capital light, multi location, outsourced manufacturing model for different categories of staples. Created and launched a new brand across 5 staple categories, built logistics & distribution model across india & exports to select mkts. Attained No 2 position in each category in a short period of 3 yrs. Last assignment being CEO & Business Head, India food business at Cargill Airtel: Part of telecom industry since 2004 working with Bharti Airtel with deep experience in network planning, customer experience, launching services in new geographies and building brand presence and market share. Built a very strong operational / execution culture for a very large business and grew market share substantially in a most challenging environment. Indepth understanding of both wireless and wired telephony. Built & executed business plans for their coexistence and presence basis consumer preference Launched and handled DTH business for Airtel during 2009-11 with rapid market share gains. Gained insights into Media industry and emerging trends in Satellite and DTH business Last role being COO since 2017 for Airtel India & SE Asia. Helped build a strong Own retail store portfolio (>2000 stores) and transformed business from largely physical into digital first with Omni channel experience for consumers Helped launch Airtel Payment Bank, a complete digital bank. One of the most successful ‘Payment Bank’ in India

Stackforce AI infers this person is a seasoned leader in FMCG and Telecommunications with a strong focus on digital transformation.

Location: Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Experience: 40 yrs 11 mos