Brands
Starbucks appoints Anand Varadarajan as chief technology officer
SEATTLE: Starbucks has named Indian-origin technology executive Anand varadarajan as its new executive vice president and chief technology officer, bringing in a long-serving Amazon leader to steer the coffee chain’s global technology operations.
Varadarajan will assume the role on January 19, join the executive leadership team and report to chief executive Brian Niccol. He succeeds Deb Hall Lefevre, who retired in September.
He joins Starbucks after nearly 19 years at Amazon, where he worked across a range of large-scale consumer and enterprise platforms. Most recently, he led technology and supply chain for Amazon’s worldwide grocery stores business. Earlier in his career, he held engineering roles at Oracle and worked with several start-ups.
Starbucks said Varadarajan’s experience in building secure, reliable systems and scaling technology to support complex operations would be critical as the company deepens its digital and data-led initiatives globally.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Varadarajan holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue University and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Washington.
The appointment comes as Starbucks looks to strengthen its technology backbone across stores, supply chains and digital channels. For a business built on routine and scale, the next phase now rests firmly in code.
Brands
Hardik Jhaveri named senior director marketing at Colgate-Palmolive Asean hub
Former Hill’s Pet Nutrition general manager returns to the company to steer marketing for South Asean from Kuala Lumpur
KUALA LUMPUR: Hardik Jhaveri has been appointed senior director marketing for the South Asean hub at Colgate-Palmolive, marking a return to the consumer goods major after a three year stint with Hill’s Pet Nutrition. He will be based in Kuala Lumpur and will lead marketing strategy for the region.
Jhaveri joins the role after serving as general manager at Hill’s Pet Nutrition in Taipei, where he led a cross functional team and oversaw the business with full profit and loss responsibility. The role placed him at the helm of operations in Taiwan, managing growth in what he described as a start-up style environment within a global multinational.
Before that, Jhaveri spent over a decade with Colgate-Palmolive across several marketing and innovation roles in Asia. As associate director innovation for Apac excluding China, based in Hong Kong, he led new product development and launches across multiple markets.
His portfolio ranged from developing specialised oral care products such as a diabetes focused toothpaste for the Indian market to launching premium oral care experiences under the Colgate Total brand in Australia. Alongside innovation, he also worked on launch planning, brand strategy and communications for the company’s oral care portfolio.
Earlier in his Colgate-Palmolive journey, Jhaveri held roles including marketing manager innovation, senior brand manager and brand manager. His work spanned urban and rural markets in Mumbai and customer development responsibilities in the Greater Kolkata Area.
Prior to his long association with Colgate-Palmolive, Jhaveri worked as brand officer home care at Unilever, where he helped drive marketing initiatives for the Rin detergent brand, including nationwide relaunch and on ground activation campaigns.
He began his career in advertising with Bates David Enterprise, working on brands such as IDBI Bank, The Leela Hotels and The Times of India.
Jhaveri holds a post graduate programme in management from the Indian School of Business and has also completed a level 4 diploma in wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Announcing the move, Jhaveri said he is excited to begin his new chapter at Colgate-Palmolive’s South Asean hub and thanked colleagues and mentors who supported his journey at Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
