Bharti Airtel has named the current Chief Operation Officer (COO), Shashwat Sharma, as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective from January 1, 2026.
As part of a structured succession process, Gopal Vittal, in addition to being the MD, has been appointed as Vice Chairman of the company. He has led Bharti Airtel as MD and CEO for the last twelve years.
In his new role, while continuing to lead the India business, Vittal will take on broader telecom responsibilities across the group. He 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 and technology, procurement and talent.
On January 1, 2026, Vittal will move into the role of Executive Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel.
In preparation for his new role, Sharma is being appointed CEO designate of the company. As the CEO designate, he will be responsible for the entire end-to-end consumer business. Additionally, Vittal will be responsible for mentoring and grooming Sharma to take over the position.
Vittal will start to spend time between Delhi and Bangalore. He will continue to travel extensively to ensure a structured transition and provide leadership and oversight across the group including overseas operations.
Speaking about the same, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel said, “Airtel, India’s foremost corporate entity, has had a distinguished record of well thought out structured succession planning. I am extremely pleased with the succession and transition plan of leadership at Airtel and there could not have been a better time for Airtel to unveil the new arrangement where change and continuity will go hand in hand.”
“Empowerment has been an article of faith with me which has resulted in a highly energised management delivering superior results. Airtel is one of the rare homegrown enterprises where the finest professionals combine entrepreneurial flair to bring to hundreds of millions of customers, the best technology and services in our industry,” he added.
