Leadership

C.P. Gurnani

CP partakes in several organizations with a focus on economic, technology, and market trends, including the World Economic Forum. He is the Chairman of the CII National Committee on IT & ITeS. CP has also served as a Chairman of NASSCOM for the year 2016-2017. He has also been part of the Indian Prime Minister’s CEO delegations to multiple countries.

He strongly believes in fostering opportunities for young adults through education, skill-building mentoring, and hands-on learning. He has been instrumental in setting up three tech institutions for higher education. He has been an outspoken advocate for learning at every stage of one’s career. One of his many noticeable achievements has been an ambitious, company-wide initiative of retraining employees to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to remain competitive and survive the age of digital disruption.

CP leads the company in advancing its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), including expanding and accelerating efforts towards sustainable technology, and enterprise diversity, equity, inclusion, and equality. On a path to a low-carbon future, CP has set bold goals to be carbon neutral by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2035 to ensure a healthier planet for the people and communities that TechM serves. The progress of TechM has been recognized by several prominent organizations, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, for eight consecutive years.

He is also dedicated to giving back to community and often prods people to invest their time towards the betterment of humanity and society. He is on the Board of Tech Mahindra Foundation, that helps underprivileged children. He serves in various capacities with the Mohan Foundation, Feeding Hands, and The Rotary Club at multiple locations. He is also the co-founder of ‘Titliyan’ with his wife Anita, an NGO that spearheads spreading quality education and developing the life and social skills of underprivileged children.

A chemical engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, he is a distinguished and active alumnus of the institute. CP has also been felicitated with an honorary Doctorate by four different Universities. He is on the Board of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, a promoter of Tech Mahindra Limited. His passion for education resonated in the various honorary positions he holds. He is on the board of Mahindra Educational Institutions (MEI) & a member of the Board of Management of Mahindra University, a private university promoted by MEI to educate future citizens for a better world. He is also the Chairman of IIM Nagpur and the Founding Trustee of Plaksha University.

The SKOCH Group and the CEO’s Association for Inclusive India (CAII) has conferred CP with the 'CEO’s Choice Lifetime Achievement Award’ 2021 – the nation’s highest independent civilian honour. He has also been featured in a Harvard Case Study on ‘Tech Mahindra and the Acquisition of Satyam Computer.

He is the recipient of many prestigious awards including:

• People-Focused CEO of the Year’ award at The Economic Times Human Capital Awards 2023
• Outstanding Citizens Award’ by Sindhi Chamber of Commerce
• CEO of the Year’ award at the Raymond CEO Forum India Awards 2022
• Most Inspiring Business Leader of Asia’ at The Economic Times Asian Business Leaders Conclave 2022
• Business Icon of India’ by Zee Business in 2022
• CEO’s Choice ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by SKOCH Group and CAII in 2021
• Icon of India’ recognition by VARINDIA in 2021
• Influential Leader of New India’ by CNN News 18 in 2021
• Inspiring CEO’ at The Economic Times CEO Conclave 2021
• Leader of the Year’ in IT at CEO Today Magazine Middle East Awards 2021
• Technology Icon of India’ recognition by VARINDIA Brandbook 2020
• Business Today ‘Best CEO’ Awards (IT & ITES category) 2019
• Corporate Leader of the Year’ Award - 14th (I-ACE) Awards 2018
• Gold Winner in the ‘CEO of the Year’ for his organization’s wide reskilling initiative
• Asia One Global Indian of the Year - Technology’ in 2016
• Listed among the top 100 global CEOs as part of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council 2016

Manoj Bhat

Managing Director & CEO

Manoj Bhat is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited (MHRIL). Mr. Bhat brings a wealth of experience and a strong track record in the financial and strategic domains, having served as the Group Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Group Executive Board of the Mahindra Group. In his previous role, Mr. Bhat collaborated with finance leadership teams across all Group companies on strategy, governance, and controllership. His expertise spans financial planning and analysis, financial reporting, business planning, tax management, fundraising, and treasury operations. Prior to his role at the Mahindra Group, Mr. Bhat was the Chief Financial Officer at Tech Mahindra, where he was responsible for the finance and secretarial functions across 160 subsidiaries in over 90 countries. During his 15-year tenure at Tech Mahindra, he played a critical role in various functions, including Finance, Corporate Planning & Development, M&A, and Strategy. Mr. Bhat began his illustrious career with HCL Perot Systems, holding various finance leadership roles across multiple geographies. Mr. Bhat holds a Bachelor’s degree in Technology from IIT Mumbai and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from IIM Bangalore.

Dhanraj Mulki

General Counsel & Company Secretary

Dhanraj Mulki has over 26 years of experience in the areas of Legal, Corporate Governance, Compliance, Licensing and Company Secretarial function. He is currently working with Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited as the General Counsel & Company Secretary since October 2018. In his current role, he is responsible for the Legal, Compliance and Company Secretarial functions of the Company and its subsidiaries. In his prior experience, he has worked with reputed Indian and global corporate groups across industries and sectors, including steel and wires, banking, travel and tourism, hospitality and multiplex. Dhanraj has served in the leadership team of Roots Corporation Limited, (Ginger Hotels), part of the Taj / Tata Group from 2005 to 2015 and has also served as Vice President Legal & Company Secretary of INOX Leisure Ltd from 2015 to 2018. Dhanraj Mulki holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (B.Com) & Law (LLB) from the University of Mumbai and is also a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He has also completed a Diploma in Business Management from the Indian Merchants Chamber, Mumbai.

Priyanka Gidwani

Chief Human Resources Officer

Priyanka Gidwani is a leader with 25 years of cross-industry experience in Hotels, Retail & FMCG. She is currently working with Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited as the Chief Human Resources Officer. As part of her current role, she is responsible for creating an environment where our people can learn, evolve and grow. In her prior experience, she has worked with various Tata entities in the past - Tata Pharma, the Taj Group of Hotels, Croma Retail, Tata Global Beverages and Tata Coffee. She has managed and led diverse portfolios in the areas of Human Resources, Learning & Development, Business Development and Business Excellence. She has also anchored several strategic projects critical to the delivery of business strategy related to Business Excellence, Strategic HR, Change Management, Organization Design & Structure, Organizational Transformation and Talent Management. She has championed several global Initiatives like Innovation, Diversity & Inclusion, Volunteering and Disaster Management. Priyanka is a certified Coach and a Business Excellence assessor with a clear focus on driving execution and business results. She has done her Master’s in Human Resource Development & Management from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai.

Rohit Malik

Chief - Strategic Initiatives

Rohit has 23+ years of experience in the consumer service business. He currently leads Strategic Initiatives for Mahindra Holidays & Resorts and is responsible for creating new avenues for business and spearheading the transformation projects, including digital transformation. Rohit also looks at M&A opportunities for the business that fit in well with the strategic roadmap. He joined Mahindra Holidays as the Chief Sales Officer in January 2012 and in that role, he steered the company towards product-based selling and developed an effective and efficient sales force. In his prior experience, Rohit has worked with companies such as GE, Alliance Capital, ICICI Prudential and Bharti AXA. He has managed P&L, business development, product development, distribution modelling, sales training, sales automation & channel innovation as well as marketing & digital transformation. He has managed large scale distribution in various roles in his career.

Santhosh Kutty

Chief Business Officer

Santhosh Kutty has been a part of Development & Expansion of Zone By The Park hospitality brand . www.zonebythepark.com Operations Management & Preopening hotels, Developing & Implementing brand standards, setting up teams ,Indian & International Luxury hotel & Luxury Resort assets, Renovation and repositioning two outstanding properties including Accommodations, public spaces, Award winning restaurants Managing diverse customer segments from Heads of states, global leaders, global conferences, to the extremely demanding resort guest working with quality partners such as Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) and achieving Excellence Winning Awards during each of my last four stints, Business Excellence methodology expertise. Managing change and motivating and developing teams

Satyendra K Dwivedi

Chief Technology Officer

Satyendra has 23 years of experience in developing innovative, scalable, high performance, high availability, and secure architectures. He is currently working with Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited as the CTO, CIO and Digital Transformer. As a part of his current role, he is responsible for providing technological and commercial leadership to build highly skilled motivated teams for emerging technologies with a value-focused innovative digital approach. In his prior experience, he has worked in start-ups, developed world-class software products in a global role at Oracle and also worked in a global environment in the IT service delivery organization at Infosys. He is one with hands-on expertise in developing a digital strategy for a coding program. Satyendra is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore.

Pratik Mazumder

Chief Marketing Officer

Pratik comes with 25+ years of unparalleled expertise in Marketing, Digital, Business, Media, Entertainment and Communication. He is designated as one of the ‘World’s 100 Most Influential Marketing Leaders’ by the World Marketing Congress. He was a Member on the Advisory Board of Ad:tech India, Director on the Board of Bennett Broadcasting and Distribution Services, Acuate (Cricbuzz) and Times Content Ltd. He is a two-time Cannes Lion winner with remarkable storytelling and creative abilities. He has created India’s largest music streaming brand, Gaana, Pratik has worked in organizations like Times Internet Ltd., Yatra Online Group, Bharti Airtel Ltd , OgilvyOne Worldwide, Enterprise Nexus Direct and Bates Clarion Advertising. His last stint was an entrepreneur as Founder and CEO of Trojan Horse Media.

Julian Ayers

Chief Resort Officer

Julian Ayers, Chief Resort Officer at Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited, joined in May 2022. Previously he was with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts as Regional Vice President looking after North India. British-born, Julian's career has spanned more than thirty years, across the globe, in locations as diverse as India, Oman, the Caribbean, Indonesia, and the UK, and has worked both with large hotel groups (Hyatt, Hilton, and Intercontinental) as well as with boutique hotel groups like Alila Hotels & Resorts, Bespoke Hotels, and Virgin Hotels. Julian's eye for detail and hotel background brings fresh thinking to MHRIL's corporate team, where he oversees Club Mahindra's rapidly expanding portfolio in India and beyond. A graduate of Suffolk College, he honed his skills at Gleneagles in Scotland before crossing the pond to Jamaica. Julian will join us in Mumbai from Delhi with his wife, Suja, founder of Pala Designs, who creates small-batch artisanal clothing. Their two sons Ahan 25, a journalist, studying for his Master's in Columbia University, New York & Ayush, 19 studying Computer Science at Durham, in the UK.

Bharat Sundaresan

Chief Customer Acquisition Officer

Bharat has an experience of 28 years in Sales with expertise in creating B2C, B2B and B2B2C delivery models with maximisation of stakeholder value. Some of his key achievements are acquiring and managing large partners like Citibank, HSBC, Bank of Maharashtra & India Bulls amongst others. Successfully pioneered the digitization of the sales and customer onboarding process. Before taking on his current role at Mahindra Holidays, Bharat was Head – Direct Marketing, Bancassurance, Strategic Alliances & Variable Agency at Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company Limited. He also worked at Pramerica Life Insurance Company Limited, Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited, Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited, GE Countrywide Consumer Financial Services Limited, Motorola (I) Limited, Telco Limited (Now Tata Motors).

Vimal Agarwal

Chief Financial Officer

As a Chartered Accountant and MBA with over 24 years of experience in finance and business strategy, Mr Vimal Agarwal has excelled in both MNCs and Indian listed entities. During his 14-year tenure at PepsiCo India Limited, he progressed through leadership roles every 2 to 3 years, driving profitable growth and enhancing shareholder value. He has been recognized globally by PepsiCo for change management, governance and spearheading organizational goals. Before joining Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited, Vimal served as Chief Financial Officer at Parag Milk Foods Limited, a listed company and Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited where he was responsible for Technology, Secretarial and Compliance apart from core Finance function. Vimal is credited for providing strategic insights to scale-up businesses while ensuring top-notch governance and reporting standards. He is passionate about team development and fostering strong stakeholder relations.