Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced a series of senior leadership appointments that will take effect from January 1, 2026, marking the culmination of a succession plan initiated last year.
Shashwat Sharma, currently CEO designate, will assume charge as managing director and chief executive officer of Bharti Airtel India from January 1, 2026. As part of the same transition, Gopal Vittal, vice chairman and managing director, will move into the role of executive vice chairman for a five-year term, subject to shareholder approval.
Vittal Legacy & Strategic Oversight
The company’s board has also approved the appointment of Soumen Ray as group chief financial officer, and Akhil Garg as chief financial officer for Airtel India, both with effect from January 1, 2026. Garg is currently the financial controller of Bharti Airtel.
In addition, Rohit Puri, who currently serves as joint company secretary and compliance officer, will be appointed company secretary and compliance officer of Bharti Airtel. Pankaj Tewari will continue as group company secretary, providing leadership and oversight at the group level. All appointments are subject to shareholder approval.
With the new structure, Vittal will oversee Bharti Airtel and its subsidiaries as executive vice chairman. He will be responsible for driving group-level synergies across digital and technology initiatives, network strategy, procurement and talent, while also focusing on long-term group strategy and preparing the organisation for the next phase of growth.
Sharma will take over day-to-day leadership of Airtel’s India business and will report to Vittal. The company said Sharma has spent the past year working closely with Vittal across business functions as part of a structured transition process.
New Financial Guard
Akhil Garg, who will take over as CFO of Airtel India, has been with the company for nearly 12 years and has handled multiple roles across finance and strategy. He has led several key initiatives, including the recent Hexacom IPO.
Announcing the changes in a regulatory filing, the company said the appointments were approved by the board on the recommendation of its HR and nomination committee at a meeting held on December 18.
Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, said the leadership transition reflected a balance between continuity and change. He said the timing was right for the shift, given the company’s scale and ambitions, and added that the new structure would help Airtel advance its goal of building a globally competitive telecom company.
The company said the leadership changes reinforce its focus on stability at the operating level while strengthening strategic oversight at the group level as it navigates the next phase of growth in a rapidly evolving telecom market.