Brands
Kabir Ahmed Shakir replaces Pratibha K Advani as CFO at Tata Communications
Mumbai: Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler, has appointed Kabir Ahmed Shakir as its chief financial officer. Kabir will join on October 21st, 2020 and will be responsible for the strategic financial management of the company, including investor relations.
Kabir brings with him nearly three decades of leadership experience in strategic financial management with a sharp focus on growth, strong business processes, and operational execution across diverse industries and geographies. Until recently, he was the CFO at Microsoft India, responsible for Microsoft’s overall finance leadership across all entities in India.
Kabir has extensive experience in global markets. Prior to Microsoft, he spent 23 years with Unilever in leadership roles across the globe – as International Funding Director in the Netherlands, Global Supply Chain Finance Director in the UK, CFO of the Home and Personal Care business in India and Global CFO for the Skincare category in the UK.
Tata Communications MD & CEO A.S Lakshminarayanan says, “I am pleased to welcome Kabir into the leadership team at Tata Communications. Kabir brings with him extensive functional expertise together with deep understanding of digital businesses and start-ups. As the company looks to implement the new vision to be a global leader in enabling digital ecosystems, Kabir’s experience will be valuable in driving transformation programmes as well as profitable and sustainable growth for the company.”
Shakir says, “I am very excited to join Tata Communications. The company has shown remarkable business performance which is being recognised by the market and key stakeholders. Tata Communications have a clear, ambitious strategy and a strong leadership team. I look forward to building on the company’s financial strategy and delivering value to shareholders, as the company continues on its path of achieving profitable growth and being seen as a leading digital ecosystem enabler globally.”
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.
