Arun Kumar brings more than two decades of experience in finance and strategy, including managing business growth and turnaround, large scale debt and equity capital market benchmark transactions, governance and reporting and compliance with corporate multinationals including Vedanta Resources, GE and Hindustan Unilever.
With his experience in leading large-scale supply chain teams, delivering sales and supplier returns, managing large third-party manufacturing and of green field manufacturing projects, Arun Kumar joins the Ola leadership team at a time when Ola Electric is racing ahead to build the world’s largest two-wheeler factory which will also co-locate key critical suppliers in 2 supplier parks at Tamil Nadu site.
Saurabh brings over two decades of varied experience in a cross section of roles including internal audit, risk management, business and operational process improvements and financial reporting, with companies including Hindustan Zinc, Philips, Asian Paints and Larsen & Toubro.
Saurabh joins the Ola leadership team as CFO of the high-growth mobility business, as well as the fast-growing financial services and foods businesses, with focus on building strong growth with robust bottom-line.
Ola chairman and group CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said, “Arun and Swayam bring deep financial expertise across large and complex global organisations and multiple industries including minerals, construction and Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) amongst others. I look forward to working with them to deliver our growth ambitions while maximizing capital efficiency.”
Arun Kumar, said, “I am elated to have the opportunity to be associated with the game-changing vision of Bhavish and the Ola group to transform the urban mobility space by driving the acceleration to electric vehicles, as well as to expand the footprint of all its consumer internet businesses globally. I look forward to partnering with Bhavish to build strong and profitable business models, drive efficiency in capital structure and businesses, unlock value and continue to build a best in class finance organization”.
Saurabh too said, “Ola is uniquely positioned to make a significant impact in an under-penetrated consumer internet space and I find it super exciting to have the opportunity to be part of the team that will help fuel its next phase of profitable growth. While our primary focus remains creating and delivering rapid growth opportunities, I am also looking forward to creating a strong culture of margin-mindset with world-class governance and processes.”
The two appointments follow several recent hires, including Rakesh Bhardwaj as Group CIO, N Balachandar as Ola Electric chief human resources officer (CHRO), Wayne Burgess as Ola Electric’s head of design, and YS Kim as Ola Electric’s global head of sales and distribution.
Ola is building a strong talent organization and leadership pipeline that will help it move to its next phase of growth across its businesses of mobility, electric, financial services and foods.
The article was first published on livemint.com