Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) Chief Executive Officer Priya Nair has reshaped the company’s top leadership, promoting several long-serving executives as the FMCG major redesigns its strategy amid intensifying competition from emerging brands.
Nair, who assumed the CEO role in August 2025 after succeeding Rohit Jawa, has initiated a series of leadership changes within months of taking charge. A company veteran herself, having joined HUL in 1995, Nair has leaned on long-time insiders to strengthen the leadership bench as the company navigates a rapidly evolving consumer market.
Within seven months of her appointment, several executives who have spent much of their careers within the company have moved into key roles, reflecting a broader effort to sharpen execution across HUL’s core businesses such as beauty, personal care and foods—segments where the company has historically held strong market positions but now faces rising competition from a wave of smaller, direct-to-consumer brands.
Among the key promotions, Vandana Suri has been elevated to Executive Director for Home Care and Director for Beauty & Wellbeing from January 1, 2026. Suri has spent more than a decade at HUL, holding multiple roles during her 11-year tenure with the company.
In another major leadership move, Niranjan Gupta has taken over as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director at HUL. Gupta previously served as CEO of Hero MotoCorp, but brings extensive experience within the Unilever ecosystem. He worked with Unilever from 2008 to 2014 and had earlier spent 12 years at HUL between 1994 and 2007.
The leadership reshuffle also extends to marketing, where Nair has introduced a new structure under what she described as a “Unified India” strategy unveiled during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. As part of this shift, HUL has appointed three chief marketing officers across its key business verticals, all of whom are long-time company executives.
Pavanjit S. Bedi, who currently serves as CMO for the Foods division, has spent more than two decades at the company. Prior to this role, he was Global Brand Vice President between September 2021 and February 2026 and has also held leadership positions overseeing brands such as Pond’s, Glow & Lovely and Lifebuoy.
Abhinav Ravikumar has been appointed CMO for Personal Care. Before this role, he served as Global Brand Director for Lux and Lifebuoy.
Sunanda Khaitan, who has spent more than 19 years at HUL, will serve as CMO for Beauty & Wellbeing. Previously, she was Vice President and Business Head for Lakmé.
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