upGrad appoints ex-Amazon Ashish Sharma to spearhead its own-branded Program Vertical

upGrad, the EdTech company has announced the appointment of Ashish Sharma as vice president – new business for its own-branded program vertical which will introduce a new line of programs for making youth and working professionals job ready.

In his new role, Ashish will be responsible for building multi-layered strategies for market creation and managing the complete business pipeline for accelerating upGrad’s business momentum, thereby delivering profitable growth. His efforts will be instrumental in building a new business vertical to help final-year students and early-stage professionals scale up their careers by learning new age skills for 6 to 8 months with concrete career outcomes.

Ashish will also be working closely with upGrad divisions – starting with ‘KnowledgeHut upGrad’ to create a structured content delivery pipeline as per business specifics.

Commenting on the new senior hire, in a joint statement, Mayank Kumar, co-founder, and MD of upGrad, and Subramanyam Reddy, Founder & CEO of KnowledgeHut upGrad said, “Ashish’s appointment is aptly timed as we are optimistic about the brand’s growth. We are building a strong leadership team within upGrad and across its divisions, who can support us to navigate India’s dynamic job market for creating products that fit seamlessly within a fresher or professional's LifeLongLearning journey. This is where Ashish, with his business acumen and strategic guidance, will steer category creation for us and drive growth results.”

“I am thrilled to join upGrad at such an exciting time when the brand is making headlines for all correct reasons. The progressive leadership and their sound decisions have made the brand stand tall amid its peers and there’s no doubt that it shall continue to break bigger records. While my experience within other sectors has been quite fulfilling, I look forward to starting a new journey within the EdTech ecosystem where I can utilize my business capabilities to further create offerings that will positively impact the lives of millions,” concluded Ashish Sharma, Vice President – New Business, upGrad.

Before upGrad, Ashish was working with Paytm Mall and Amazon where he built and drove business categories while also managing the end-to-end supply chains for revenue results. With a distinguished career trajectory, his track record includes working on several high-profile projects in segments including E-commerce, FMCG, and Telecom.

A Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) alumnus, Ashish will continue to operate from upGrad’s Koramangala, Bengaluru office.