upGrad has appointed Ferzad Palia to lead its new Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) vertical, aimed at expanding the company’s footprint into mass-market, on-demand skilling.
The company, which has built its consumer base through university-led programs, certifications and study abroad offerings, is now targeting flexible, always-on formats designed for next-gen learners.
Palia brings more than 25 years of experience across consumer tech, media and advertising. He was most recently Senior EVP at JioStar (earlier Viacom18) where he helped scale JioCinema. Prior to that, he led Viacom18’s Direct-to-Consumer, International Distribution, and Youth, Music & English portfolios. He began his career at JWT, managing Unilever’s personal care brands, and also worked with CNBC-TV18.
“It strengthens our mission to own the entire learning journey and turns skilling into a household habit, not just a job-switch trigger. Ferzad’s deep expertise in building high-scale, high-engagement content-driven platforms will help us unlock a wider segment – combined with tech that appeals to their fast-learning patterns,” said Ronnie Screwvala, Co-founder & Chairperson, upGrad.
“The opportunity to transform India’s upskilling and learning landscape at scale, is an exciting mandate. upGrad’s solid foundation and commitment to outcome-led learning provides the perfect springboard,” said Ferzad Palia.
