Movers and Shakers of the media and tech industry in 2022

There were several leadership changes in media and tech companies in 2022. From major changes at Meta India to mass exodus at ALTBalaji, we have covered it all. At the end of the year, we list down some of the major job shifts in the media and tech space in 2022. 

Meta movements

After serving the social media giant for four years, Ajit Mohan, Meta India's vice president and managing director, quit the company in November. He is set to join Snap Inc, a camera and social media company, as president of Asia Pacific, in February 2023. He will lead Snap’s India, Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea businesses, and will report to Jerry Hunter. Sandhya Devanathan will be replacing him as the vice president of Meta India from January 1, 2023. She has been part of Meta since 2016, and has helmed its ecommerce initiatives in Southeast Asia.

Shortly after Mohan’s departure from the company, Abhijit Bose, Head of Whatsapp India, and Rajiv Agarwal, Meta’s public policy chief, also handed in their resignations. Subsequently, Shivnath Thukral was appointed as Meta's new director of public policy in November.

In December, WhatsApp Pay India head Vinay Choletti also resigned. 

Nikhil Madhok, Disney+ Hotstar

Nikhil Madhok, executive vice president at the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar, resigned in August. It was under his supervision that the platform forayed into original content series Hotstar Specials. 

Sajith Sivanandan, who most recently was the managing director and business head at Google Play, took on the role of executive vice president and head of Disney+ Hotstar in October. 

Ashish Golwalkar, Sony Pictures Network India

Ashish Golwalkar, head of content for Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and Digital Business (SonyLIV), moved on from the company in November. 

ALTBalaji exodus

Balaji Telefilms and ALTBalaji saw a spate of big exits this year. These include Balaji Telefilms group CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya and ALTBalaji SVP – marketing, partnerships and revenue Divya Dixit. ALTBalaji head of content Snehil Dixit Mehra has also exited the streaming service. 

Megha Tata, Warner Bros. Discovery 

Megha Tata stepped down as managing director, South Asia, Discovery Communications India in June. She joined the animation company Cosmos-Maya India in October as its chief executive officer. 

Warner Bros. Discovery appointed Arjun Nohwar, who was previously responsible for the launch of HBO Max in India, as the general manager. 

Ajit Varghese, ShareChat

ShareChat’s chief commercial officer, Ajit Varghese announced his resignation in December. This came barely three weeks after ShareChat’s parent company, Mohalla Tech announced that 5 per cent employee layoff was imminent. 

Rubeena Singh, Josh

Rubeena Singh, who led the country operations for Josh, a short video app, resigned from her position as country manager in November. Singh joined VerSe Innovation, Josh’s parent company, in October 2021. Soon after her departure, the company announced pay cuts and layoffs.

Rama Paul, ABP Network

Rama Paul, senior vice president for marketing and marketing services, ABP Network, parted ways with the company in December.

Sudhir Chaudhary, Zee News

Sudhir Chaudhary, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zee News and WION, quit the network in June. He joined Aaj Tak as consulting editor and anchors a new show. 

Palki Sharma Upadhyay, WION 

Palki Sharma, managing editor, WION, resigned in September. She hosted WION’s prime-time show Gravitas that brought news and discussions on concurrent national and international issues. She has joined Network18 group to helm a new multi-platform video project.

Ravish Kumar, NDTV 

After the multinational conglomerate company, Adani Group acquired a stake in NDTV, Ravish Kumar resigned as the senior executive editor. Kumar’s departure came a day after the channel’s founders and promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy resigned as directors on the board of RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPRH). 

Vinay Maheshwari, India TV

Vinay Maheshwari, group CEO, India TV resigned from his position in October, barely six months after he joined. 

Bhaskar Das, Republic 

Bhaskar Das quit as the chief strategy officer of Republic Media Network in May, to join an NFT (Non Fungible Token) startup, Unica Token as director of content creation.