MAM
Byju’s names Prathyusha Agarwal as India CBO – Early Learn
Mumbai: Ed-tech major Byju’s has announced the appointment of Prathyusha Agarwal as chief business officer to lead the Early Learn Business vertical.
In this role, Agarwal will focus on charting the Early Learn portfolio strategy, define, design and deliver the holistic learning consumer offering and drive top-line growth for the business vertical. Early Learn aims to offer personalised and interactive learning programs across digital, physical and live classes for kids aged between four–eight years.
On the leadership appointment, Byju’s chief operating officer Mrinal Mohit said, “We are delighted to have Prathyusha onboard with us to lead the Early Learn Business at Byju’s. She has worked with notable brands for over 20 years and holds a wide experience across businesses and sectors. We look forward to working with her to strengthen our business further as well as support her to achieve her vision for Byju’s.”
Byju’s aims to grow the early learn category to become the market leader in coming years, stated the ed-tech major. Through partnerships and acquisitions such as Osmo, Epic, and WhiteHat Jr, among others, the brand’s early learn category offerings have expanded to include ‘phygital’ learning – a seamless blend of online and offline, collaborative learning, digital reading, gamified approaches to lessons, etc to further accelerate and transform learning for young learners.
Agarwal’s appointment comes at a time when the firm is gearing up to take these multiple offerings as a holistic learning proposition for Early Learners in the fast-growing Indian market.
Sharing her thoughts, Prathyusha Agarwal said, “Early Learning is the most formative experience with potential to shape us into learners for life equipped to take on the ever-transforming world. I am super excited to be joining Byju’s and working with the team who are passionate about creating an equal learning ecosystem in the country. Within a short period, Byju’s has revolutionised the education landscape in India and I look forward to furthering the vision of putting early learners at the core of this journey.”
Before joining Byju’s, Agarwal was the chief consumer and data officer at Zee, where she led the business transformation initiatives and the brand growth mandate across TV and OTT verticals. In her 21+ year career, she has launched Tata’s e-commerce venture TataCLiQ as the head of marketing, worked with HDFC Life as the VP, marketing and analytics and led brand strategy for the Star TV network. She was also the founder director of ‘All OK Tech Support’, worked with Market Gate Consulting and honed marketing skills at HUL in different sales and marketing roles. She is a post-graduate from IIM Ahmedabad, with her graduation in electrical engineering from IIT Madras.
Brands
Uidai partners with Google to help users locate Aadhaar centres
Verified Aadhaar centres to appear on Maps with services and access info
MUMBAI: Finding an Aadhaar centre may soon be as easy as finding your favourite café. In a move aimed at making public services more accessible, the Unique Identification Authority of India has partnered with Google to display authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. The feature, expected to roll out in the coming months, will allow residents to locate verified centres quickly and confidently.
More than 60,000 Aadhaar centres, including state of the art Aadhaar Seva Kendras, will be mapped. When users search on Google Maps, they will be directed to authorised facilities rather than unverified listings, helping curb misinformation and confusion.
The listings will do more than drop a pin. Users will be able to see the nature of services offered at each centre, whether it is adult enrolment, child enrolment, or limited to address and mobile number updates. Details such as operating hours, parking availability and divyang friendly infrastructure will also be shown wherever applicable.
Uidai CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, said the collaboration is part of the authority’s continued effort to improve ease of living for Aadhaar holders by making authorised centres simpler and faster to navigate.
The partnership will deepen in its next phase, with Uidai using Google Business Profile to manage information and respond directly to public feedback. Looking ahead, the two organisations are also exploring the option of enabling appointment bookings through the Google Maps interface, potentially allowing residents to plan their visits with greater efficiency.
Google India country head, strategic partnerships Roli Agarwal, said integrating verified Aadhaar centres would help millions access trusted services with confidence, bringing essential government infrastructure closer to the people who need it most.
If all goes to plan, a routine Aadhaar update may soon begin not with a queue, but with a search bar.
