MAM
Tata Consumer brews a change as Sharat Verma takes the top role
MUMBAI: The kettle’s whistling at Tata Consumer Products and this time, it’s not just the tea. The company has announced a leadership shake-up, with veteran marketer Sharat Verma set to take over as president of packaged beverages ford India & South Asia (including Organic India) from 1 December 2025.
Verma, who moves from Procter & Gamble, brings over two decades of brand-building prowess, having helmed iconic names like Ariel, Tide, Gillette, Oral-B, and Olay across India, ASEAN, China, and the Middle East. At P&G, he led the 0.5 billion dollars Fabric Care business, clocking a 15 per cent CAGR in one of the most competitive categories. His “Share The Load” campaign remains a landmark in cause-driven brand storytelling, marrying social commentary with sales success.
The appointment follows the resignation of Puneet Das, who exits after eight years at Tata Consumer to pursue new opportunities. Das, who played a pivotal role in the packaged beverages portfolio, leaves behind a strong growth legacy. His departure is effective 3 November 2025.
Another notable exit is Soulfull business president Prashant Parameswaran who steps down on 15 December 2025 for personal reasons. Parameswaran, the driving force behind the Tata Soulfull brand, is credited with positioning the homegrown breakfast brand as a challenger in India’s healthy foods segment.
With Verma’s appointment, Tata Consumer is signalling a renewed focus on consumer-led innovation and storytelling that resonates across Bharat and beyond. The move also reflects a broader trend of FMCG majors courting talent with both local insight and global polish.
In a statement, Tata Consumer Products ltd. said the leadership changes form part of its ongoing transformation to strengthen its core businesses and unlock growth across markets.
For Tata Consumer the company that put the world’s most loved chai on millions of tables this is more than a handover. It’s a fresh blend of strategy and storytelling, brewed perfectly for its next growth chapter.
MAM
WPP appoints Estée Lauder’s Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as chief transformation officer
Former Estée Lauder executive to lead operations, technology and culture overhaul under WPP’s three-year growth plan
LONDON: WPP has appointed Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as chief transformation officer in a newly created role tasked with delivering the group’s Elevate28 strategy.
Choueiri joins from The Estée Lauder Companies, where she led enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, including the “One ELC” operating model and major upgrades to enterprise marketing, data and analytics capabilities. She also led the redesign of enterprise technology teams and served on the company’s AI taskforce, driving AI strategy, adoption and value realisation across the business.
At WPP, she will be responsible for designing, implementing and embedding the operating model behind Elevate28, the company’s three-year growth plan unveiled in February 2026. She will lead efforts to improve innovation, efficiency and integration across WPP’s client offerings, with a focus on delivering agile, outcome-driven solutions and measurable growth.
Choueiri will oversee organisational transformation across the group, working closely with product and enterprise technology teams to deploy AI, data and technology to build new capabilities and improve operational performance. She will also work with the people function to embed cultural change, strengthen an agile performance mindset and support talent development across the organisation.
Before joining Estée Lauder, she held senior roles across consulting and digital agencies, including at Accenture, Masaï (a Bain & Company spin-off), and Kearney, with experience spanning strategy, data and digital marketing transformation.
Cindy Rose, chief executive officer of WPP, said Choueiri brings a strong track record of leading large-scale transformation across operations, technology and culture, adding that her appointment will help accelerate the group’s next phase of growth under Elevate28.
Choueiri said WPP’s strategy represents an ambitious opportunity to reshape how the company operates and delivers for clients, adding that she looks forward to building integrated solutions and fostering a culture of innovation and change.
She will be based in New York and will join WPP’s executive committee.
