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Airtel’s current MD & CEO Gopal Vittal will become executive vice-chairman on January 1, 2026.
Shashwat Sharma.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday announced to appoint Shashwat Sharma as its managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO), with effect from January 1, 2026. Sharma is currently chief operating officer of Airtel.
Airtel’s current MD & CEO Gopal Vittal will become executive vice-chairman on January 1, 2026.
“In preparation for this role, Sharma is being appointed CEO designate of the Company. As the CEO designate, Shashwat will be responsible for the entire end-to-end consumer business. Gopal Vittal will be responsible for mentoring and grooming Shashwat to take over as MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel Ltd,” said the telecom firm.
“Gopal Vittal has led Bharti Airtel as Managing Director & CEO for the last twelve years. In this period, Airtel has built a winning portfolio of businesses across mobile, B2B, Home Broadband, DTH and digital services. Even in mobile, an intensely competitive space, Airtel has seen its revenue market share grow from 30% to 40%. In addition to strong business performance, Airtel has built a resilient organization, with best-in-class talent, world class digital capabilities, tech enablement and a strong set of values. Customer obsession and digital capabilities embedded in its talent pool secures its future. The capital markets acknowledge this with a five-fold increase in the market capitalisation of the company to well over $100 billion,” said the company in a regulatory filing.
“As part of a structured succession process, Gopal Vittal, in addition to being the Managing Director, is being appointed Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd. In this role, while continuing to lead the India business, he will take on broader telecom responsibilities across the group. Gopal will be appointed to the Board of Airtel Africa Plc as the Bharti nominee director to provide strategic guidance. In addition, he will be responsible for driving group synergies in select areas such as Network strategy, digital & technology, procurement and talent,” the company added.
On Monday, Bharti Airtel reported a 168% jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 3,593 crore for the July-September quarter, helped by its first tariff hike in over two years.
