COAI elects it's leadership team for 2017-18

COAI has announced its leadership for the term 2017-18 at its Annual General Body Meeting, held on 15th June, 2017. Gopal Vittal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel, was reelected as the Chairman. He is joined by Sunil Sood, ‎Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone India, who will continue as the Vice-Chairman of COAI. The association also formed its Executive Council for the next term at the meeting.

The AGM was followed by a Panel Discussion on “Delivering the Digital Future” which saw contributions from senior officials from the Government and the industry leaders, including Dr Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, MeitY; Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director, Idea Cellular; Dr Anand Agarwal, CEO & Director, Sterlite Technologies; and Paolo Colella, MD & Region Head – India, Ericsson. Sunil Sood and Mathews were also part of the panel.

Gopal Vittal, an alumnus of Madras Christian College and IIM Kolkata, has over 25 years of experience in telecom and FMCG sectors, including companies like Singapore-based Singtel and Hindustan Unilever where he headed the US$3.5-billion Home & Personal Care Division.

Sunil Sood, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Vodafone India, also an industry veteran, has had a long stint at Pepsico in india and Bangladesh as well as companies like Nestle and Safaricom. He has an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a BE from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Dr Ajay Kumar reaffirmed that the Digital India programme has transformed India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Its long-term vision aims to connect every citizen, and provide access to government and other key information services on demand thereby enabling digital empowerment of every citizen.