Movers And Shakers Of The Week [10 October – 15 October]

File storage company Dropbox has appointed Aditya Agarwal as its new CTO. In his new role, he will focus upon fostering a culture of technical creativity to continue to build breakthrough products. Aditya joined Dropbox when it acqui-hired his company Cove.

He was earlier associated with Facebook where he played a key role in designing and building Facebook’s engineering infrastructure. He has also worked with Oracle and is on the board of directors of Flipkart.

Aditya holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. He is on the board of the Anita Borg Institute as well.

Let’s take a look at the important movers and shakers of the week.

Snapdeal Gets A New Vice President – Corporate Communications

Snapdeal has appointed Parul Batra as Vice President – Corporate Communications. Parul brings over 17 years of communication experience, with expertise in product management and consumer communications. She joins Snapdeal after successful stints at Google and NDTV.

At Snapdeal, Parul will anchor the public relations mandate for the company, helping drive the company into its next phase of deeper connect with users, as it focusses on partnering them in their journey to a better life.

Part of the founding team of Google in India, Parul held a wide range of leadership positions with the company. Before joining Snapdeal, Parul led Consumer PR for Google across products such as Search, Maps, Android, and Apps. She has also spent seven years with NDTV as a journalist and Senior Content manager. She was also part of the founding team of NDTV Convergence to set up NDTV.com.

Parul holds a Project Management degree from Stanford University and a Masters in Business Administration from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune.

GirnarSoft Appoints Kartikeya Singhee As Editorial Head

GirnarSoft has announced the appointment of Kartikeya Singhee as the Group Editorial Head. Kartikeya will be in charge of editorial content for all of the group’s automotive portals, including CarDekho.com, Gaadi.com, and ZigWheels.com.

Kartikeya has had a 12-year-long career as an automobile journalist. Prior to GirnarSoft, he was the Associate Editor of Autocar India magazine which also produced auto shows for Times Now and ET Now. He has also worked with media houses like CNBCTV18 and Next Gen Publishing Ltd, and some years as a researcher with market intelligence firms Netscribes and then, IMRB.

A management graduate from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, he has also had his shot at entrepreneurship with VeriCAR, which was a used car verification startup based out of Mumbai.

Kartikeya Singhee’s appointment comes close on the heels of Amol Naresh joining GirnarSoft as the Director, CRM. Recently, GirnarSoft also hired CFO Umesh Hora (former CFO of Zomato and founder of The Mind Cafe India); Associate Vice-President Mayank Batheja (earlier held leadership positions in various startups and established companies; co-founded LetsIntern.com); and Amit Monga, Deputy Director – CarDekho Auctions (co-founded Fitrrati, a SaaS-based tool that helps online users know their right size while shopping from fashion e-stores). The trio joined earlier this year.

Puneet Singhvi Joins Network 18 As Corporate Development Head

Network18 Group has appointed Puneet Singhvi as Head – Corporate Development. In his new role, he will lead and oversee investments, M&As, partnerships, strategic alliances, and business development across all media platforms within the group.

Prior to joining Network18, Singhvi was the COO of Times Global Partners, a division of Times Internet. He has been associated with Times Internet in different roles since the past 13 years.

Singhvi has an MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.

Curofy Hires Jo Peddhinti From Eli Lily

Curofy, the online community of verified doctors has appointed Jo Peddhinti as Business and Digital Marketing Strategist, with a focus on organisations in pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and donor registries. Jo has seven years of experience in business strategy, digital marketing strategy, tactical planning, cross-channel marketing, and market research.

Previously, Peddhinti was associated with Eli Lilly in India and held the responsibility to rapidly accelerate its digital footprint in India as well as other emerging market affiliates like Thailand, Saudi Arabia etc.

This hiring comes at a time when Curofy is looking to explore monetisation channels by disrupting the pharma marketing industry. Curofy has started pilots with major healthcare stakeholders in the industry with GSK, Abbott, Dr. Reddy’s, and Cipla already onboard.

Last month as part of its expansion to walk the monetisation route, Curofy also hired Abhishek Sharma, ex-Limeroad Head of Products as VP Products.

Peddhinti has a Masters degree in biological sciences from BITS Pilani and an MBA from Simon School of Business in Rochester, New York. She is passionate about reinventing healthcare customer engagement through technology and believes in mobile health, multichannel marketing, physician social networks, and digital transformation strategies for the pharmaceutical industry.

Just Buy Live Makes Two Additions  To The Advisory Board

Just Buy Live has appointed to its advisory board, Sangeeta Talwar and Theron Carmine de Sousa as independent members. The new advisory board will play a pivotal role in mentoring Just Buy Live’s team, strengthening its strategic vision, streamlining operations as well as improve overall brand presence to accelerate expansion. In their new role, they will work to strengthen Just Buy’s positioning as an e-distributor and further enhance its ability to execute large scale projects.

Sangeeta Talwar has earlier served on the Board of Directors of Tata Tea Ltd., Tata Coffee Ltd., Eight O’clock Coffee (USA), Oriental Hotels, and Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. Sangeeta was instrumental in creating the ‘Maggi’ phenomenon, the first instant food product in the country and also launching the ‘Jaago Re’ campaign for Tata Tea, winning her several awards and accolades over the years.

Sangeeta started her career in Nestlé and has held leadership positions across sectors including Mattel India- Executive Director for Tata Tea Limited, President-South Asia for the Tata Beverages Group and Managing Director of NDDB Dairy Services.

Theron Carmine de Sousa (TC) is Consulting Director of Business and Brand Strategy at Ferry Wharf Communications. TC is also Director at B.T.A. Singapore, a newly formed political consulting & advocacy firm. He has worked as an independent creative strategist and advisor to international companies like DDB Needham Mid-West, Camden Lehman Joint Venture Media & Advertising Fund, Bridgewater PLC, ALB & Company, and The Brand Advisory Council.