Rabi Shankar Mishra takes charge as Airtel ceo in Pune

PUNE: Airtel has appointed Rabi Shankar Mishra as chief executive officer, based in Pune, marking a sharp leadership shift as the telco sharpens its focus on growth, execution and market momentum.

Mishra moves into the role after leading Airtel’s Guwahati operations, where he built a reputation for tight execution and cross-functional leadership. In Pune, he will drive business strategy, operational excellence and expansion, drawing on deep expertise across sales, scale and complex, multi-market operations.

Before joining Airtel, Mishra held senior leadership roles across global consumer giants. He served as sales director at the Hershey company, vice president at Diageo, and held multiple associate vice president and associate director roles at Mondelēz International and Cadbury India Ltd, overseeing large, high-value businesses and teams across regions.

His earlier career at Pepsico India and Cavinkare laid a strong foundation in sales, customer development and route-to-market strategy across fast-moving consumer businesses.

With a rare blend of FMCG rigour and telecom scale, Mishra arrives in Pune to push Airtel harder, faster and deeper into its next phase of growth.