A chief human resources officer (CHRO) or chief people officer (CPO) is a corporate officer who oversees all aspects of human resource management and industrial relations policies, practices and operations for an organization. Similar job titles include: chief people officer, chief personnel officer, executive vice president of human resources and senior vice president of human resources.[1][2] Roles and responsibilities of a typical CHRO can be categorized as follows: workforce strategist, organizational and performance conductor, HR service delivery owner, compliance and governance regulator, and coach and adviser to the senior leadership team and the board of directors. CHROs may also be involved in board member selection and orientation, executive compensation, and succession planning.[3][4] In addition, functions such as communications, facilities, public relations and related areas may fall within the scope of the CHRO role. Increasingly, CHROs report directly to chief executive officers and are members of the most senior-level committees of a company.
01. ASHWANI PRASHARA
Company – Reliance Industries Limited
Ashwani Prashara is the Chief Human Resource Officer of Reliance Industries Limited. He is
HR leader with over 32 years of global experience across the entire gamut of HR activities with expertise in driving HR transformational initiatives, Change Management, HR Capability Building and Industrial Relations.Currently, He is responsible for HR, Corporate Services and Medical Services functions for Hydrocarbons and Allied Businesses.
He is specialised in HR Strategy, Industrial Relations, Total Rewards Strategies, Organizational Development, Change Management, Business Revitalisation, Growth Enablement, Human Resources Transformation and Service Delivery, Human Capital Strategy & Management.
02. MILIND LAKKAD
Company – Tata Consultancy Services
Milind Lakkad is the Chief Human Resource Officer and Executive Vice President of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). As CHRO, Milind is focussed on further strengthening the high performance culture of TCS, and is passionate about building a purpose driven, learning organization that transcends geographical barriers, and embraces practices that enable the future of work. The wellbeing of the diverse 450,000+ workforce is at the centre of the people strategy driven by Milind that focuses on learning, work and social collaboration and engagement with purpose. He strongly believes in the motto that a happy workplace is where every employee is encouraged to follow their passion, invest in lifelong learning, thrive together and stay hungry. He sees the role of HR as a key enabler – proactively partnering with business to enable long term planning and growth, institutionalizing collaboration to leverage ecosystems, and reinforcing the TCS Way by harnessing the diversity of the organization and creating a common language across the organization based on TCS values. Driving compliance to local and regulatory requirements across the globe, while creating value for the entire ecosystem of customers, analysts, partners and societies globally will continue to be his prime focus. With continued efforts towards social initiatives focused on education, healthcare, and sustainability, Milind envisions creating impact globally through inclusion and empowerment.
03. KRISHNAMURTHY SHANKAR
Company – Infosys
Krishnamurthy Shankar is an Executive Vice President and the Group Head of Human Resource Development at Infosys. In this role, he is responsible for envisioning the roadmap for HR, driving strategy, and implementing operational priorities aligned with the overall organizational mandate. Krish has over 30 years of experience and has led several global HR functions in organizations like Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever and Unilever. Prior to joining Infosys, Krish was the Head of HR for South Asia at Philips. In his wide ranging experience in these organizations, he has led the transformation of HR into a strategic partner, facilitated organization-wide transformation and capability development, and was instrumental in building a strong talent pool through a series of leadership development initiatives. Krish holds a postgraduate diploma in HR from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and has received an executive certificate in Strategy and Organization from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Krish is an avid reader, loves wildlife photography, and trekking. A football enthusiast, he occasionally runs half-marathons. He is passionate about teaching and exploring new ideas in HR and organization development. Krish is based in Bangalore.
04. VINAY RAZDAN
Company – HDFC Bank Ltd
Mr. Vinay Razdan is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of HDFC Bank. In his current role, he is responsible for the entire human resource function in the Bank. Prior to joining the bank in September 2018, Mr. Razdan was the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Idea Cellular Ltd. He had joined Idea in 2006 and spearheaded several transformational initiatives there. An HR veteran of 32 + years, Vinay brings in rich, vast, and varied experience across sectors such as FMCG, IT Services and Telecommunications. He has held leadership positions with marquee organizations such as ITC Ltd, HCL Technologies and Idea Cellular Ltd. Under Vinay’s leadership, some of these organisations were recognised as great places to work. Vinay is an alumnus of Delhi University and holds a postgraduate degree/diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from XLRI, Jamshedpur. Vinay is married to Jagriti, who is involved in various charitable causes. He is a football aficionado, and also enjoys playing cricket and table tennis. Reading and travelling are his other interests.
05. ANURADHA RAZDAN
Company – Hindustan Unilever Limited
Anuradha Razdan is the Executive Director HR of Hindustan Unilever Limited and Chief Human Resource Officer, South Asia at Unilever, Co-chair FICCI HR Committee. Her purpose is to spark magic between people, passion and opportunity for the benefit of the business, society and for everyone.
She is a business focused HR leader with an international career. Currently, she is serving as a member of the Management Committee of HUL, (an independently listed company) and CHRO for Unilever in South Asia. Her crucible experiences include Business Partnering members of the Unilever Executive, Strategic Assistant to former CHRO, global & local roles within Leadership Development, deep M&A experience and Global Head of Talent Attraction and Employer Brand. Strong equity advocate and change and transformation leader.
06. NIRAJ RAVAL
Company – Adani Gas
Niraj Raval is a HR Head at Adani based in Khodiyar, Gujarat. Previously, Niraj was a Senior Manager, Human Resources at Reliance Industries. He started working in 1998, then the he has changed 3 companies. On an average, Niraj Raval worked for one company for 5 years 10 months. Niraj Raval has been working as a Head Of Human Resources for Adani Total Gas for 455 days. If you are interested in this candidate, contact him directly by using contact details provided by SignalHire.
07. ANURAG PATNAIK
Company – Nestle India
Mr. Anurag Patnaik is the Director, Human Resources Nestlé South Asia Region.Through his current role, Anurag led the Human Resources function during the turbulent Covid-19 crisis. With people centric approach, he introduced new policies and provided all best possible support for the employees & their family’s well-being. He is keenly driving some of the best-in-class benefit reviews for the organization, working to broaden the scope of diversity and bringing in renewed focus on employee engagement. Prior to the current role Anurag was Head of Total Reward (COC) for Asia Oceania and Africa, and after completing a successful assignment in Malaysia, returned to Nestlé India. He was responsible for delivering important structural changes in the organization, improving Field Force Effectiveness and growing manager capabilities. In 2014, he became Head of Total Rewards Manager for the Market and drove major advances in the region’s pay and performance practices, overhauled sales incentives and medical plans, and deployed new communication strategies. In 2016, Anurag moved as the H2R Deployment Lead for Zone AOA, and enabled the transformation in CWAR, EAR, Japan, the Philippines and SAR, as well as in Italy. Anurag joined Nestlé as a Management Trainee in 2005 from XLRI, and since then, increasingly took on senior HR positions in Recruitment, Total Rewards & Senior HR Business Partner for Nestlé Nutrition, Nestle Health Science and Finance &Control.
08. VIKRAM TANDON
Company – Adani Group
Vikram Tandon is the Chief Human Resource Officer of Adani Group. He is a seasoned Human Resources professional with over three decades of experience across a range of diverse businesses, geographies, and cultures. His expertise lies in thoughtful management of the intersection of strategy, talent, and organization culture, with extensive outcomes in organizational effectiveness, talent management, succession planning and leadership development. Prior to joining the Adani Group, Vikram donned many transformative leadership roles across global brands such as HSBC India, American International Group, Inchcape Plc, Dubai, and ANZ Grindlays Bank, among others. Vikram holds a master’s degree in Human Resources from XLRI Jamshedpur and has certifications in Leading Change, Management & Innovation from the Harvard Business School. Vikram was the past President of the National HRD Network, Mumbai Chapter and has been a recipient of the GNOSIS Excellence award from XLRI.
09. AMRITA PADDA
Company – Bharti Airtel India
Amrita Padda is the Chief People Officer of Bharti Airtel India. She joined Bharti Airtel on October 1, 2021. She reports to Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel. She is responsible for Airtel’s People strategy as the company transforms into a digital services provider of choice. Amrita has work experience of over two decades with Hindustan Unilever, where she has handled the entire spectrum of Human Resources roles. Most recently, she was the Chief People Officer for Unilever Marketplace, their newly set up global business unit to transform Distributive Trade. In the past, she has also led Human Resources for Unilever Philippines and for their Global Procurement function. She has strong expertise in leading Human Resources transformation projects globally and has been a pioneer of new initiatives at Unilever.
10. SUKHJIT SINGH PASRICHA
Company- Kotak Mahindra Bank
Sukhjit Singh Pasricha is the President and Group Chief Human Resource Officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank. His 25+ years of career is in Corporate HR roles and Business HR roles across different industry sectors and complex businesses (both B2B and B2C). His experience across the entire value chain of HR function has helped him gain the ability to understand business imperatives and align HR solutions to the same and also an in-depth understanding of technical subject matter in the area of Human Resources. Also the ability to work with senior-leadership, design policy and processes and work with large teams across locations. His Business aligned HR Strategy are Driving HR Transformation projects and Productivity, Building Organisational Capability, HR Technology (strategy, design and execution), Outsourcing and Change Management, HR Operations Analysing and Improving HR Metrics. He has
Global exposure, in addition to specific India expertise. Also he is high on networking skills for environment scanning, analysing trends and deriving learnings.
11. Shanta Gupta
Company – Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd.
Shanta Gupta is the Chief Human Resource Officer of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd. He has over 25 years of experience as Business partner, responsible shaping Business AOP, Manpower Planning Talent Acquisition, OD interventions, PMS, Employee Engagement, Training – implementation of Matrix structure& Multiskilling. He is specialised in Manpower planning as per project cycle or need basis and monitoring productivity and projectwise manpower budget.
12. Amitav Mukherji
Company – ITC Ltd.
Amitav Mukherjee is the Head- Corporate Human Resource Officer at ITC Ltd. Prior to this role, Mukherjee was serving as the VP-HR at ITC’s food division. Mukherjee comes with an experience of over 25 years and has spent a significant part of his career with ITC. He joined ITC in 1995 as assistant manager-HR and over a period of more than two decades, he kept climbing the ladder of success taking responsibilities as human resource manager, vice president-HR and now as corporate HR-head in the organisation. Mukherjee’s whirlwind journey with ITC began with a strong desire to gain experience in industrial relations. In trying to meet the challenges at ITC, including gathering knowledge of manufacturing and working with various top leaders, he managed to gain experience in labour management as well as collective bargaining. It took Mukherjee merely five years to begin leading the HR function at the Company’s Bangalore factory. He also lead a team of sales and marketing personnel and managed the distribution portfolio for the Company. His long-time desire to go overseas and attain a master’s degree was also fulfilled by the Company, which supported him financially in this endeavour. After completing a master’s in human resources from Cornell University,Mukherjee began leading the HR function at ITC’s food division in 2006. An alumnus of XLRI, Mukherjee also worked as an intern with Citibank India. He graduated in economics from Loyola College and completed his schooling from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
13. Srirang T K
Company – ICICI Bank Ltd.
Srirang is the Group Chief Human Resource Officer at ICICI Bank Limited. He is also a Member of the Research Advisory Council of IIT Bombay – Monash Research Academy, Member of IMD, Switzerland’s Executive Education Advisory Council, Member of Society of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Member of the Governing Body ofThe International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B ) and Board Member of the National HRD Network.
Mr. Srirang holds an MBA degree in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations and Bachelors in Industrial Engineering. He has been with the Bank since 2001. In his 20 years of work experience at organisations like Coca-Cola India Limited, Ford India Limited, ICI India limited and ICICI Bank, Srirang has handled Industrial Relations, Mergers, Leadership Development, Performance Management, Talent acquisition and employee engagement processes.
14. Dr. C Jayakumar
Company – Larsen & Turbo
He is the Executive Vice President & Head – Corporate Human Resources (CHRO) of Larsen & Toubro Limited, an Indian Multi-national Conglomerate with diversified interests in infrastructure, heavy engineering, manufacturing, IT, technology, and financial services with operations across 30+ countries worldwide. A highly result-oriented, HR professional with 33 years of experience in successfully planning, designing, implementing. and managing various Strategic HR Initiatives. He has been the Head of HR for various businesses, independent companies, and JVs within L&T Group, including leadership roles in the Middle East & Africa Region. He has led various transformational initiatives within the organization including digital transformation. He has been an established thought leader and widely acclaimed speaker in various national and international conferences and forums.
15. Vibhash Naik
Company – HDFC Life Insurance
Experienced Human Resources and L&D professional with a demonstrated history of working in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance industry. Strong human resources professional skilled in Talent Management, Compensation and Benefits, Talent Acquisition, Personnel Management, Employee Engagement, and Organizational Development.
16. Apparao V V
Company – HCL Technologies
Apparao VV is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at HCL Technologies, a role in which he leads a global organization responsible for engaging, developing and transforming the company’s workforce into a competitive differentiator. His team of HR experts is re-imagining leadership and talent practices to create a workplace aligned to the needs of the digital age. Apparao is an HCL veteran, having joined the company in 2002. Before taking over his current role, he was a Corporate Vice President in Financial Services business. Apparao has three decades of overall industry experience covering various domains like talent management, client relationship management, industrialized delivery and strategic partnerships. He is widely admired amongst his peers for his deftness at integrating and managing diverse, multi-cultural and multi-national teams and expertise in process lifecycles and next-gen technologies. Apparao holds a Masters Degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee which he passed as a Gold medalist. He has also published several research papers in industry publications and holds two patents under his name.
17. Deepak Reddy
Company- Bajaj Finserv Limited
Deepak Reddy is currently the Group Head of Human Resources for Bajaj Finserv Ltd. Bajaj Finserv Ltd
has the following companies in its fold – Bajaj Finance Ltd, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company, Bajaj
Allianz General Insurance Company, Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd, Bajaj Financial Securities Ltd, Bajaj
Finserv Health Ltd and Bajaj Finserv Direct Ltd. The newly set up “Group Learning Academy” also
reports into Deepak. Deepak is known to be a people’s person and is key member the team that helped transform Bajaj
Finserv into one of India’s most respected & profitable Financial Services Institutions. He was also
instrumental in the transformation of the HR practises of Bajaj Finance Ltd in a short period of time.
The company has consistently been awarded, by GPTW and AON Hewitt, to be amongst the Best
Employers in India. Deepak is a versatile leader and has done multiple roles, in his 27+ years career, spanning across
Managing Businesses, Sales & Distribution, Product Management & Human Resources. He in fact had
never done a HR role until eight years ago. His HR Mantra is to develop practises that are simple,
common sensical, transparent, engaging and with high business impact! He has previously worked with American Express, Standard Chartered Bank & Onida. He is proud to be a Management graduate from T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal (1994 batch). Deepak loves riding his 2400 cc motorcycle along with sports, trekking and movies.
18. Savitha Shivsankar
Company – Asian Paints
Savitha Shivsankar has joined Asian Paints as Chief Human Resources Officer. Earlier, she had worked with Mondelez International, Diageo, Marico, Castrol India and ITC. An alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Shivsankar’s expertise includes exposure to all forms of HR in multiple roles – factories, sales regions, marketing HR, new businesses as well as Corporate. In this role, Savitha is leading the people and culture agenda of Asian Paints globally. She has over 20 years of experience spanning various industries and diverse aspects of the HR function. Prior to joining Asian Paints, she was associated with Novartis as Head – Talent Organisational Development and Inclusion for almost 3 years. She brings in 23 years of professional experience to the Company. She joined Novartis in 2016, as the head of the people functions for India. She climbed up the ranks and was elevated to the role of head, talent, organisational development and inclusion in 2020.
19. Saurabh Govil
Company – Wipro
Saurabh Govil is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Wipro, and a member of the Management Team. He leads all Wipro’s HR functions, including talent acquisition, talent engagement, and learning and development programs. Saurabh has been a HR practitioner for over two decades, and has worked with organizations like ITC and GE. Since joining Wipro in May, 2009, he has been instrumental in transforming the organization. His work with people, processes, and organizational structure over the last three years has contributed significantly to Wipro’s growth, improving operations and introducing many new initiatives. Saurabh is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur where he completed his master’s in human resources. He is on the advisory board of SHRM India. Saurabh has been a regular speaker at NASSCOM’s HR summit. He also contributes to NHRDN’s journal as an author.
20. Rajkamal Vempati
Company- Axis Bank
Ms. Rajkamal Vempati is the Head of Human Resources at Axis Bank, one of India’s largest private sector banks. In a career spanning more than 17 years, she has donned various hats successfully and carved a niche for herself in the industry. Having started her career in HR as a Consultant with Associates, she went on to be a part of the Global HR Leadership Program at GE Capital. Prior to Axis Bank she was heading Human Resources for ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited. She has worked extensively in the area of Learning and Organization Development. At ICICI Lombard, she led organization-wide change interventions which have received global accolades such as the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) Award and the Golden Peacock award to name a few. Ms. Vempati is the Chairperson, CII (Western Region) of the Indian Women Network and is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the “Young Achiever Award” in Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards and “Women Super Achiever” by the World HRD Congress.