MAM
Foundit plugs in Tarun Sharma as CPTO to turbocharge its tech and talent game
MUMBAI: Bengaluru’s job tech scene just got a caffeine shot. Foundit, formerly known as Monster APAC & ME, has hired Tarun Sharma as its new chief product and technology officer (CPTO). The move signals a serious tech-up for the job platform that wants to be less “CVs and filters” and more “AI and precision hiring” across Asia-Pacific and the middle east.
Sharma isn’t your average tech lead. He’s the kind of guy who’s been there, debugged that. With a career spanning Paypal, Yahoo, Walmart, Naukri.com and Maersk, he’s basically the Avengers of product and tech. Now, Foundit wants him to bring that blockbuster energy to the world of recruitment, using AI and data to connect talent with jobs faster than a recruiter ghosting a follow-up email.
“At Foundit, we’re reimagining the recruitment experience through deep tech, AI, and hyper-personalisation. Tarun’s appointment as chief product and technology officer strengthens this vision. With his extensive experience in building scalable, user-first platforms, he will be instrumental in driving innovation and enhancing our precision hiring capabilities to deliver smarter hiring decisions for job seekers and recruiters across APAC and the middle east,” said Foundit CEO V Suresh.
Sharma, clearly not one to shy away from a challenge, added, “This is an exciting moment for the recruitment ecosystem, and Foundit is at the forefront of shaping what’s next. I look forward to building intuitive, data-driven experiences that not only empower job seekers and recruiters but also set new benchmarks in the recruitment landscape.”
Before this gig, Sharma led platform and experience transformations at Maersk, taking global logistics from clunky to clicky. His track record covers digital payments, machine learning, monetisation, and scalable product architecture. Basically, if it plugs into the internet, Sharma has probably fixed, built, or scaled it.
Oh, and he’s not just a boardroom brain. He moonlights as an angel investor and startup whisperer, backing early-stage ventures in travel, fintech, and AI.
Sharma holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from NIT Durgapur. A solid combo of brains, bandwidth, and backend logic.
MAM
Happy Pawdcast launches merchandise with The Souled Store
Season 2 success leads to co-branded line celebrating pet-parent bond.
MUMBAI: The Happy Pawdcast just gave fans something to wag their tails about because when your favourite pet show gets merch, even the couch starts feeling like a runway. Building on the momentum of Season 2 which reached over 14 million pet lovers, clocked more than 20,000 hours of content consumption and engaged over 23,000 users, The Happy Pawdcast has teamed up with The Souled Store for an exclusive co-branded merchandise collection. The line translates the podcast’s emotional core into wearable designs that celebrate the everyday bond between pets and their parents.
Hosted by Sonali Bendre and Icy Behl, Season 2 featured candid conversations with celebrity pet parents including Remo D’Souza, Diana Penty, Kubbra Sait, Rohan Joshi, Karan Wahi, Tusshar Kapoor and Amala Akkineni. The episodes tackled responsible adoption, stray welfare, pet emotional well-being and debunked common care myths, earning strong resonance across digital platforms.
Sonali Bendre said, “Season 2 reaffirmed how deeply people connect with stories around pets, responsibility, and companionship. This collaboration with The Souled Store is a natural extension of that bond, taking the conversations beyond the screen and turning shared emotions into something tangible for pet parents.”
Rose Audio Visuals head of marketing & branded content Megha H Desai added, “With Season 2, The Happy Pawdcast evolved from a content property into a strong, community-led IP. The collaboration with The Souled Store reflects our approach to building meaningful extensions around our shows where audience insight, brand alignment, and scale come together.”
The Souled Store co-founder Vedang Patel noted, “Pet parenting today is as much about identity and expression as it is about care and responsibility. This collaboration allowed us to tap into a deeply engaged, emotionally invested community and co-create designs that feel authentic and accessible.”
Produced by Rosepod (the podcasting division of Rose Audio Visuals), the merchandise marks the podcast’s shift from audio-video content into a broader lifestyle IP, while aligning with The Souled Store’s focus on pop-culture-led, community-first products and its animal welfare initiatives through World For All.
In a pet-parent world where love often comes with a leash and a hoodie, The Happy Pawdcast isn’t just telling stories anymore, it’s letting fans wear them, proving the bond between humans and their fur-babies deserves more than likes, it deserves to be flaunted.
