MAM
Madhu Malhotra joins Edelweiss General Insurance as chief technology officer
Mumbai: Digital insurer Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI) has onboarded Madhu Malhotra as its chief technology officer. She will spearhead the technology function at EGI and drive digital innovation in line with the brand’s strategy of transforming the insurance landscape in India through tech driven solutions and offerings.
Malhotra is an eminent technology leader who brings with her two decades of rich experience across fintech and telecom domains. She has a proven track-record in leading digital innovations, engineering modernisations and transformations and streamlining cloud initiatives.
Prior to her new role, Malhotra was head of technology at Spectra. She was also associated with Airtel for 10 years and held many leadership positions there. While at Airtel Bank, she led the launch of the first payments bank of India, headed the financial inclusion vertical to deliver large scale customer impact and drove agile adoption and transformation.
Edelweiss General Insurance executive director & CEO Shanai Ghosh said, “Technology has proved to be a game changer for the Insurance industry, with the potential to transform the entire service ecosystem and enhance customer experience. At EGI, we are well placed to leverage this transformation, given our digital operating model. I am excited to welcome Madhu to be part of our digital journey and lead this strategic business function for us. Her experience and expertise will help build a robust technology function that will help drive our business strategy. I wish her the very best for an enriching career with us.”
Malhotra added, “As CTO my focus will be to create future ready digital platform and products offering state of the art digital experience and capabilities to our customers. I will strive for a culture of innovation to make the customer experience simple and transparent. I am incredibly excited to play a key role in accelerating this digital journey in the growth of EGI that Shanai has envisioned.”
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
