Bharti Airtel appoints Shashwat Sharma as MD & CEO for 5 years, effective Jan 1, 2026

Bharti Airtel appoints Shashwat Sharma as MD & CEO for 5 years, effective Jan 1, 2026

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on December 18 appointed  Shashwat Sharma as MD & CEO for 5 years, effective January 1, 2026.

"Shashwat Sharma is currently the CEO Designate at Bharti Airtel, leads the Consumer Business for the Company. In addition, he has worked closely with the current CEO, Gopal Vittal, getting a deep understanding across all business and functions. In his earlier roles, Shashwat has led the Consumer business and has worked as Chief Operating Officer of Airtel responsible for all operations. He has had a strong track record of performance and creating meaningful impact across all the areas he has worked on," said Airtel in a stock exchange filing.

Gopal Vittal will move to the role of Executive Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel on January 1, 2026, overseeing the company and its subsidiaries.

"In his new role, besides oversight of the companies, Gopal will also be responsible for driving group synergies in the areas of digital and technology, network strategy, procurement and talent. He will also focus on Group strategy and future proofing the organization for the next evolution of its development," said Airtel.

Airtel also appointed Soumen Ray as its group chief financial officer.

Ray was most recently the finance chief for Bharti Airtel India, a role he held for the last four years.

He will be succeeded by Akhil Garg, who has been with Airtel for 12 years and was most recently the finance boss of Airtel unit Bharti Hexacom, a wireless telecommunications service provider.

Both Garg and Ray will take charge of their new roles from January 1, 2026.

Rohit Puri, currently Joint Company Secretary & Compliance Officer, will be appointed as Company Secretary & Compliance Officer for Bharti Airtel.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel said: ‘I am extremely pleased with the succession and transition of leadership at Airtel and there could not have been a better time, where change and continuity will go hand in hand. I have no doubt both Gopal and Shashwat will continue to build on the momentum and I wish them much success in their roles.

"As an organisation we pride ourselves with our highly energised and professional management team, which combined with our entrepreneurial flair, brings to hundreds of millions of customers, the best technology and services across the geographies we operate. I look forward to working alongside Gopal and the team to continue this pursuit as we drive towards our ambition of building the best global Telcom company’