CARGOCONNECT-APRIL2025 - Flipbook - Page 84
APPOINTMENTS
Airbus appoints Annapurna
Vishwanathan as VP, Head of Digital–
India & South Asia
Airbus has named Annapurna Vishwanathan as its Vice
President and Head of India and South Asia for Information Management and Digital. In her new role, she will be
responsible for strengthening IT frameworks that support
the company’s business operations across the region.
With nearly two decades of expertise in technology
management and software development, Vishwanathan has a strong track record of driving innovation across global enterprises. She
brings extensive experience from her previous role as Chief Information Officer at
Cummins India, she spearheaded a major digital transformation. Before that, she
led digital initiatives at Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages India and spent over a
decade at GE Digital, holding leadership positions.
Jean-Benoit Devauges takes charge as
GEODIS’ Group General Counsel
GEODIS has on boarded
Jean-Benoit Devauges
as Group General
Counsel. He will be a
member of the Group’s
Management Board,
which is chaired by
Marie-Christine
Lombard, Chief
Executive Officer of GEODIS. He also became a
member of the Executive Board of GEODIS
alongside Marie-Christine Lombard and
David-Olivier Tarac.
Jean-Benoît Devauges started at Lazareff &
Associés, then joined Renault’s legal team in
2000. He moved to Nissan’s global legal
department in Tokyo in 2006, later to Nissan
North America in 2008. In 2011, he became
deputy to Renault’s general counsel, focusing
on M&A, and was promoted to general counsel
in 2017. Since 2023, he has been general
counsel and head of legal, ethics, and
governance at MEDEF, the French business
confederation.
Avianca taps Otto Gergye to lead its
Commercial Strategy and Operations
Avianca has announced
the appointment of Otto
Gergye as Chief
Commercial officer as
part of the airline’s
continued efforts to
strengthen its
commercial strategy.
Otto has more than 20
years of experience in the aviation and
tourism sectors, having held various
leadership roles and leading commercial
processes across airlines worldwide, including
strategic planning, business development,
sales, and revenue optimisation. He served as
Revenue Director at Thai Airways, Vice
President of Consulting Services at Sabre,
Commercial Sales Manager for Asia at Qantas,
and Chief Commercial Officer at Fiji Airways,
among many other key commercial roles at Air
Berlin, British Airways, Amadeus, and KLM.
84 | CARGOCONNECT APRIL 2025
Zafer Aggunduz is Global GSA’s CCO
Global GSA Group has
elevated Zafer
Aggunduz asto the
position of Chief
Commercial Officer. In
this new role, Aggunduz
will oversee Global GSA
Group’s global
commercial strategy
with a consolidated focus on strengthening
airline partnerships, expanding market reach,
optimising commercial strategies, and
fostering sustainable growth, while leading
digital transformation initiatives that enhance
operational efficiency and customer
satisfaction.
Aggunduz’s journey with Global GSA Group
began in 2011 when he joined as an intern to
complete his thesis. Over time, he has
developed extensive expertise in commercial
development, establishing himself as a key
member of the executive leadership team.
Takashi Nakajima steps into the role of
President and CEO of Honda Cars India
Honda Motor Co. has
appointed Takashi
Nakajima as President
and CEO of Honda Cars
India, effective April 01,
2025. He succeeds
Takuya Tsumura, who
has been with Honda
since 1994 and now
moves to Japan at Honda head office.
Takashi joined Honda in 1994 and has been
associated with Honda Motor for more than
30 years. He has gained vast experience
having worked in various positions of
responsibility in several international markets
like Japan, China, Spain, Czech Republic and
Russia in the areas of Business Planning,
Product Planning, Marketing and Sales
Promotion. He has been serving as President
of Honda Motor Russia since 2021. During his
latest assignment, he was also in-charge of
Product Planning, Marketing and Corporate
Communication for Honda’s automobile
business in the Japanese market.
Tata Motors ropes in Ex-MD and
CEO Gunter Butschek as Independent
Director to its Board
Tata Motors has
announced the
appointment of former
MD and CEO, Guenter
Butschek, as an
Independent Director for
a five-year term
starting May 01, 2025.
Butschek has global
experience of working with multinational
entities across South Africa, China, South
Korea and Europe. He has held leadership
roles at Airbus and Daimler Group. During his
tenure as MD and CEO of Tata Motors from
2016 to 2021, he spearheaded the automaker’s Turnaround 2.0 strategy, a restructuring
initiative that focussed on cost reduction,
supply chain improvements, and streamlining
the product portfolio.
Shruti Kashyap starts a new position
at Unilever as VP– Distributed Trade
Technology
Shruti Kashyap has
taken on the role of Vice
President– Distributed
Trade Technology at
Unilever. With nearly two
decades of experience
in IT leadership, digital
transformation, and
business strategy, she
now leads Unilever’s efforts in driving
technology-enabled trade innovation and
operational excellence.
Previously, Shruti held leadership positions at
Hindustan Unilever, GSK, and Unilever’s Digital
Marketing division, where she played a pivotal
role in technology integration, digital marketing
transformation, and enterprise IT strategy.
Her leadership contributed to major projects,
including Shikhar, Hindustan Unilever’s B2B
application and one of India’s largest eB2B
platforms, along with AI and digital implementations recognised at a global level.
Milind Kulkarni to lead Adani Wind
Milind Kulkarni has taken
on the role of Chief
Executive Officer at
Adani Wind, where is
expected to lead
business efforts in
strengthening Adani
Wind’s presence in the
renewable energy space.
Previously, serving as COO and Business Head
at Adani Wind, Milind played a key role in
developing India’s largest-rated 5.2 MW wind
turbine and establishing critical manufacturing facilities. Before joining Adani Wind, Milind
held senior leadership positions at Envision
Energy as CEO for India and Head of the
Supply Chain Center. His career also includes
leadership roles at Senvion India as COO and
at Kenersys India and Europe, focussing on
engineering, manufacturing, and global
operations.
