Bharti Airtel Names Sharat Sinha as CEO of Airtel Business

Telecom giant Bharti Airtel has announced the appointment of Sharat Sinha as the new CEO of Airtel Business, effective June 3, 2024. Sinha will be stepping into the role following the exit of the previous CEO, Ajay Chitkara, in June last year.

Bharti Airtel restructured leadership in the enterprise arm by dividing it into three segments — Global business led by Vani Venkatesh, Domestic business led by Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, and Nxtra Data Centers led by Ashish Arora.

Sinha, a seasoned technology professional, brings extensive experience from his tenure at Checkpoint Software Technologies, where he served as President of Asia Pacific. His career also includes leadership roles at Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, and VMWare, along with early experiences at Ericsson and VSNL, providing him with a robust telecom background.

In his new position, Sinha will report directly to Gopal Vittal, CEO and MD of Bharti Airtel, and will join the Airtel Management Board. Vittal expressed confidence in Sinha’s ability to drive Airtel’s growth, stating that his extensive global experience in product management and business leadership will be instrumental in expanding the company’s connectivity and related services.

The leadership restructuring follows Ajay Chitkara’s departure and the subsequent division of Airtel Business into three segments: Global Business, led by Vani Venkatesh; Domestic Business, led by Ganesh Lakshminarayanan; and Nxtra Data Centers, led by Ashish Arora. This strategic move aims to streamline operations and bolster Airtel’s enterprise offerings.