Brands
Gupta gets the nod as P&G’s health care chief bows out
MUMBAI: Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd has announced a changing of the guard in its health care division, with Maithreyi Jagannathan stepping down as category leader effective December 31, 2025, to pursue other interests. Stepping into her shoes: Tushar Gupta, a P&G lifer with deep roots in the Vicks brand and a regional design pedigree.
Gupta, an IIM Calcutta alumnus and engineer from Manipal Institute of Technology, cut his teeth as a brand manager on Vicks India, where he built a reputation for sharp brand-building and consistent business results. After climbing the ranks domestically, he decamped to Singapore to lead design across Asia, the Middle East and Africa—a sprawling remit that saw him shape visual identity and packaging for some of the region’s most recognisable consumer brands.
Currently senior director for brand design and communication for Vicks and Zzzquil across Asia-Pacific, Gupta has spent his career mastering the dark arts of health care marketing: consumer insights, communication strategies, media investments and innovation launches. His CV reads like a greatest-hits compilation of P&G’s playbook—strengthening product superiority, elevating packaging, polishing digital assets and executing with military precision.
The handover takes effect on 1 January 2026, giving Gupta a clean slate to stamp his authority on India’s fiercely competitive health care market. It’s a category where brand loyalty runs deep, where cold and cough season can make or break a quarter, and where the ability to balance innovation with trusted heritage is worth its weight in mentholated gold.
For Jagannathan, it’s the end of a chapter. For Gupta, it’s the beginning of one—armed with a regional perspective, a design-led mindset and an intimate knowledge of the brand that remains P&G’s health care crown jewel in India.
The baton has been passed, the transition telegraphed. Now comes the hard part: keeping the Vicks vapour rising in a market that waits for no one.
Brands
PeopleStrong appoints Adishri Charla SVP marketing to drive global growth
Former UiPath marketing head to scale brand, demand and expansion across regions
NEW DELHI: PeopleStrong has brought in marketing heavyweight Adishri Charla as senior vice president, marketing, tasking her with sharpening the company’s global brand and fuelling its next phase of growth.
Charla steps in with nearly two decades of B2B marketing experience across both fast-moving start-ups and global technology giants. She joins from UiPath, where she served most recently as director and head of marketing for India and Saarc, playing a key role in the automation firm’s rise to category leadership in the region. Her work there ranged from revenue-driven marketing strategies to building strong customer and community engagement programmes.
At PeopleStrong, Charla will oversee global brand strategy, demand generation and customer engagement as the HR tech firm expands across India, Asia, the Middle East and other emerging markets.
CEO Sandeep Chaudhary said the company was looking for a leader who could connect brand storytelling with measurable business outcomes. “Adishri brings global marketing experience and strong team leadership. We are confident she will help sharpen our positioning and support our next phase of expansion,” he said.
Charla previously held marketing roles at Oracle India and IBM India, working across cloud, systems and product marketing. An MBA graduate from Symbiosis Centre for Management and HR Development, she has also completed executive programmes at Columbia Business School and ISB.
Sharing her excitement about the move, Charla said PeopleStrong has the potential to reshape how organisations across the region think about HR technology. She added that her focus will be on building stronger brand connections while driving measurable business impact.
Backed by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, PeopleStrong today serves more than 500 enterprises and has won several industry recognitions, including honours at the ET Human Capital Awards and the People Matters Infini-T Awards. Charla’s appointment signals the company’s intent to strengthen leadership as it scales its global ambitions.
