Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom company has today announced the appointment of Amrita Padda as the Chief People Officer (CPO). She replaces Samit Deb who has decided to leave the company for achieving his entrepreneurial goals.
In her new role, Amrita will be responsible for handling Airtel’s People strategy as the telco transforms into a digital services provider. She report directly to the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of Bharti Airtel, Gopal Vittal.
Prior to joining Airtel, she was associated with Hindustan Unilever (HUL) for over 20 years and handled the entire spectrum of Human Resources roles.
Most recently, she was the Chief People Officer for Unilever Marketplace, their newly set up global business unit to transform Distributive Trade. Earlier, she has also led Human Resources for Unilever Philippines and for their Global Procurement function.
Commenting on her appointment, Gopal Vittal said, ” I’m sure that Amrita will bring immense value to the exciting journey of Bharti Airtel. She would help in building new capabilities and ensure that Bharti Airtel remains one of the top magnets for talents from across the world.”
Vittal also thanked Sumit Deb for all his contributions to Bharti Airtel and for strengthening the People practices of the company. Vittal further wished Deb a prosperous future.
Amrita did bachelor’s in Commerce and earned Master’s degree in human resources from XLRI Jamshedpur.
Bharti Airtel has over 471 million customers in 18 different countries across Africa and South Asia. It also ranks in the top three operators globally, and its networks cover over 2 billion people on the planet.
