Daybreak - Why Airtel's Gopal Vittal is betting on younger and “hungrier” executives for top roles

Episode Date: September 24, 2023

From the time it was the number one indian telecom company to braving the whole phase when Jio came around and disrupted the whole space. Its been a long, brutal competition for Airtel and Gopal Vittal has managed to bring Airtel back to health.Meanwhile, he's spent years on finding and grooming the right talent to create the next generation of leaders at the telco giant. And now Airtel is undergoing a major reshuffle. As you would expect, it’s creating a sense of both excitement and stress.Tune in.RecommendationThe camel is inside the tentDaybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, analytical business stories.

Hi, this is Rohan Dharma Kumar. If you've heard any of the Ken's podcasts, you've probably heard me, my interruptions, my analogies, and my contrarian takes on most topics. And you might rightly be wondering why am I interrupting this episode too. It's for a special announcement. For the last few months, I and Sita Ramon Ganeshan, my colleague and the Ken's deputy editor, have been working on an ambitious new podcast. It's called Intermission.

We want to tell the secret sauce stories of India's greatest companies. Stories of how they were born, how they fought to survive, how they build their organizations and culture, how they manage to innovate and thrive over decades, and most importantly, how they're poised today. To do that, Sita and I have been reading books, poring over reports, going through financial statements, digging up archives, and talking to dozens of people. And if that wasn't enough, we also decided to throw in video into the mix. Yes, you heard that right. Intermission has also had to find its footing in the world of multi-camera shoots in professional studios, laborious editing, and extensive post-production. Sita and I are still reeling from the intensity of our first studio recording.

Intermission launches on March 23rd. To get alert, as soon as we release our first studio. episode, please follow intermission on Spotify and Apple Podcast or subscribe to the Ken's YouTube channel. You can find all of the links at the ken.com slash I am. With that, back to your episode. Do you be nervous if the company that you work for was going through a kind of a reshuffle? I don't know about you, but I think most people would be. And now, imagine your boss lived by this particular philosophy.

100% hunger is better than 100% readiness and one can never find a 100% cooked person for a job. Bosses are meant to be like that, you know. They are required to take on everything in their stride in order to be a good leader. And at times, it can come across as harsh. So today, I'm going to tell you about the chief executive officer of India's number two telecom company, Bharty Etel.

His name is Gopal Vittal and he's seen it all From the time that it was the number one Indian telco to braving the whole phase when Gio came around and disrupted the whole space It's been a long brutal competition for Airtel under Gopal Wittal and so far his ship is still afloat. People close to him say that the almost sinking phase brought out the best in him but just keeping it afloat is not enough So Wittell went against the grain and he has managed to bring Airtel back to health.

He spent years on finding and grooming the right kind of talent. And now the telco is in the process of undergoing a major reshuffle. And as you would naturally expect, it is creating a sense of both excitement and stress. Welcome to Daybreak, a business podcast from the Ken. I'm a host Nick Das Sharma and I Don't Chase the New Cycle. Instead, thrice a week on Monday's Wednesday, days and Fridays, I will come to you with one business story that is worth understanding and worth your time. Today is Monday, the 25th of September.

Tell has already picked a new chief operating officer, a new chief marketing officer and a new CEO for the Africa Units mobile network business. Many others in the leadership positions are being given bigger roles and responsibilities. But while all of this is going on, there are also those who have been with the company for a while but have either moved on or are moving on after. A senior Eterl executive put it quite aptly to my colleague the Kenrapporter Pratab Vikram Singh. They said that the pyramid gets narrower at the top and age is not a qualifier at Eton. In fact, Gopal Vital is counting on younger people. Quite similar to what Sunil Bharti Mithil, the group's promoter, did back in 2012 when Wittal was a lot of

brought to the company for the second time. His first stint with Airtel was from 2006 to 2008 as a marketing head. Now, it is quite well known that after Wittal took over as the chief executive, the old guard, you know the likes of Sanjik Kapoor, who was the CEO for India and South Asia, and Manoj Koli, the CEO and MD of the international operation, actually quit the telco. But Sunil Bharti Mithil had a plan. This is what a former senior executive told us and I'm quoting, he created a safe playground for Gopal Wittal and the C.O. Ajay Puri to purely focus on the India business, end quote. Puri was an operations veteran who retired back in 2021. So how is Wittal pulling all of this off and what is the goal? Stay tuned to find out.

You know, Gopal Wittal has actually been at it for the last two years. He's been nurturing young leaders for bigger roles. This is what people who worked closely with him told Pritha. Many leaders appointed in the last two to three years were part of his core team at Airtel during the early years. Or they joined the telco after a stint at the FMCG major, Hindustan Unilever, where Wittell worked for close to 16 years. A top executive at Airtel explained how candidates need a certain amount of credibility to lead a team. And of course, that comes with some kind of experience. But that does not necessarily mean that age is the only qualifier. For example, Saschwat Sharma, who is the head consumer business and marketing, will be the new COO according to

a top Airtel executive. But he doesn't have any operational experience in the mobile network business. Before this, he headed operations at Hindustan Unilever and DTH and Retail at Airtel. So he will be trained on the job. And the Telco's chief operating officer, the COO Sunil Talar, who has been with the company since 2016 in different roles, including the head of DTH and home broadband businesses, will be moving on from India business for a foreign assignment. He will be joining Airtel Africa as the mobile network business's CEO. The company will also have a new chief marketing officer, Amit Tripati. Before this, Tripati led the telecom. circles in Kerala and Tamil Nad. And right now, he heads the customer experience division.

But it is not all rainbows and butterflies for everyone. Some people are not happy, especially the experienced leaders who were eager to get more meaty rules. A few executives who kind of had expected this dead end quit for bigger and better opportunities. Vibhor Gupta, the Circle CEO for Mumbai, till a couple of months ago, joined the Food Service company Jubilant Food Works Limited for a Pan India position in September. Ajaj Chitkara, who was until August, the CEO of Airtel business, has moved to the B2B Logistics Company, Ecom Express, as the MD and CEO. But who are the ones who are moving forward under the watchful eyes of Copal Wittl?

Coming up next. The senior ones who have been pushed to take on bigger roles like Sharma and Tripati have worked very closely with Wittal. In fact, Wittal is believed to have been mentoring Sharma for quite a few years now. And it shows in how fast he grew in the company. Multiple executives told Pratab this. Sharma is basically seen as Wittal's protege. Another former Airtel executive told the ken about how the leadership kept adding work on his plate,

first as a marketing head, then DTH, then consumer business, and he did well throughout. At least two Airtel executives who work closely with him said that Sharma is sharp, thorough and he has a high emotional caution. Plus, working with Wittal is quite the grind. He is a tough task master, someone with whom mediocrity does not go well. Many former and current Airtel executives told us to Pratat. Supposedly his weekly and monthly review meetings at the company's corporate headquarters in Gurgaon are infamous. Now, it seems like it's Wittles' turn after Sunil Bharty Mithil to take the baton and create a playground for the younger ones that he is training. Oh, and just so you know, he happens to be the company's longest serving chief.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of the Ken, India's first subscriber-focused business news platform. What you're listening to is just a small sample of our subscriber-only offerings. A full subscription unlocks daily long-form feature stories, newsletters, subscriber-only apps and podcast extras. Head to the ken.com and click on the red subscribe button on the top of the website. I am Snigda Sharma, your host, and today's episode was edited by my colleague Rajiv Sien.