Brands
Jio Financial Services names Venkata Narasimham Peri group chief operating officer
MUMBAI: Jio Financial Services is sharpening its operating engine. The company has appointed Venkata Narasimham Peri as group chief operating officer, with the board approving his elevation on December 17 and the role taking effect from December 22.
Peri has been working closely with the leadership team since October 2024 as senior executive advisor, helping the chief executive, chief technology officer and analytics heads lay the groundwork for AI and analytics-led capabilities as the company builds out its financial services ambitions.
With more than 25 years of experience spanning finance, technology and advisory, Peri brings a blend of boardroom strategy and operational execution. He has advised boards and senior executives at firms including IBM, Deloitte and PwC, largely across banking and insurance.
Before joining Jio Financial Services, he founded and led US-based health-tech firm CognitiveCare and later served as chief AI officer at L V Prasad Eye Institute, deepening his credentials at the intersection of data, healthcare and applied artificial intelligence.
As Jio Financial Services scales up, the appointment signals a clear message. In fintech’s next phase, algorithms matter, but operators who know how to deploy them matter more.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
