Bharti Airtel Declares Changes in Leadership

News Desk, News Nation 360 : For the past thirteen years, Gopal Vittal has served as Managing Director and CEO of Bharti Airtel. In October 2024, Gopal was named Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd. in addition to being the Managing Director as part of a formal succession process. The company designated Shashwat Sharma as its CEO. According to the succession plan, on January 1st, 2026, Gopal Vittal would take over as Executive Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel, managing the company and all of its subsidiaries. Gopal takes up a leadership position managing companies and group synergies for digital technology networks, strategy, and procurement of technology talent, focusing heavily on group strategies and future-proofing Bharti Airtel for the next phase and evolution. Gopal follows a successful transition process. Shashwat Sharma takes over as MD and CEO for Bharti Airtel India w.e.f January 1, 2026. Shashwat was working as a CEO-designate for the last year and remained actively engaged with Gopal to ensure a seamless transition. Shashwat will be working under Gopal. Soumen Ray, who is working as the Group’s current Chief Financial Officer, Bharti Airtel India, gets appointed as the Group’s Group Chief Financial Officer, directly under Gopal. Soumen has been associated with Bharti Airtel India as the Group’s current Group CFO for about four years. Soumen’s leadership of Bharti Airtel’s finance function remained effective. Akhil Garg, who is the current Finance Controller at Bharti Airtel, has been appointed as Bharti Airtel India’s Chief Financial Officer. Akhil has been associated with Airtel for about twelve years. Akhil remned involved actively involved with various business projects, including managing Hexacom’s IPO. Rohit Puri, currently Joint Company Secretary and Compliance Officer gets appointed as Company Secretary and Compliance Officer for Bharti Airtel. Pankaj Tewari, the Group Company Secretary, continues providing leadership and oversight at the group level.

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