Airtel Names Shashwat Sharma MD & CEO as Gopal Vittal Becomes Executive Vice Chairman

Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel, will soon be transitioning from his role as the company CEO to being the vice chairperson soon. Airtel had already notified this change in the past. Gopal Vittal was appointed Vice Chairperson of the telco in October 2024. At the time, the company had already announced that the CEO’s role will go to Shashwat Sharma. In the last 12 months, Sharma has spent a considerable amount of time with Gopal Vittal, preparing for the role.

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The date for the transition has been set as January 1, 2026. So the December 2025 quarter is the last quarter where Vittal will serve as the CEO of Bharti Airtel.

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Along with this, there will be more changes in the corporate structure. Soumen Ray, currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Bharti Airtel India, will be appointed as Group Chief Financial who will directly report to Gopal. Soument has been on his current role for about four years and he has been instrumental for Airtel’s growth.

Akhil Garg, currently Financial Controller, Bharti Airtel, will be appointed as Chief Financial Officer for Bharti Airtel India. Akhil has been with Airtel for about 12 years now and has held multiple roles in the company and lead several projects including the Hexacom IPO. Akhil will now report to Shashwat and Soumen under his new role.

Rohit Puri, currently Joint Company Secretary & Compliance Officer, will be appointed as Company Secretary and Compliance Officer for Bharti Airtel. Pankaj Tewari, who is the Group Company Secretary, will continue to provide leadership and oversight at a group level.