Divisional CEO Personal Care Products, ITC Ltd

Sameer is the Divisional Chief Executive of the Personal Care Products Division at ITC. With 25 years of experience in the consumer space across key categories such as haircare, skincare, personal wash, fragrances, disinfectants, foods, paints and home care, he spent time with Berger Paints and Marico before joining ITC in 2015.

- Cannes Lion 2018(India’s first brand to win Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix),

- Cannes 2017(Gold Lion, PR for Savlon Healthy Hands Chalksticks, Gold Lion for Outdoor plus 5 other Lions),
- International Advertising Association Awards 2021 (Gold),
- D&AD Awards (Graphite & Wood Pencil for Savlon ‘The Artist’)
- Global Sabre Award, Miami 2017 (Savlon Healthy hands Chalksticks wins World’s 10 Best PR Campaigns),
And the work on Savlon was among the ten cases recognised as Iconic work, in the first ever “ Lions creativity report of the Decade”

He is an active participant in global & national industry forums. He was a judge at the Cannes Lions for creative effectiveness in 2022 & was also a part of the 16-member international Iridium Effie Jury that elected Global Grand Effie Winners in 2021.

He holds an MBA in Marketing from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar and a Bachelor of Commerce from Hansraj College, University of Delhi. He has also studied Consumer Marketing Strategy at Harvard Business School and attended the Global Program for Management Development by the Ross School, University of Michigan. He is part of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for the Marketing area at the Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur.

Manish Anandani is the Managing Director, India at Kenvue, world’s largest pure-play consumer health company by revenue. Manish is also a member of the Kenvue Asia Pacific Leadership team.

A seasoned global leader in the FMCG industry, Manish brings over two decades of rich industry experience across Consumer Health, Food & Beverage, Consumer Packaged Goods with strong capabilities in brand marketing, sales, customer management, ecommerce having worked with eminent global companies in India and other international markets.

Previously, Manish was the Managing Director for Kenvue Philippines where he led the region’s growth and expansion bringing robust technology-led data and insights to create long-term value for customers and the business.

In 2018, Manish joined Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health (now Kenvue), as Vice President, Sales and Professional Marketing for India and Southern Asia. In this role, he championed a digital-first approach in the sales function, spearheaded the e-commerce business and rapidly scaled capabilities in the India business delivering exceptional double-digit growth.

Prior to J&J, Manish worked with Colgate-Palmolive as Worldwide Director-Retail & Shopper Marketing and Customer Development Capabilities. During his tenure with the company, he developed long term sales strategies, people development and introduced disruptive solutions to improve business efficiencies and profitability. Manish began his career with PepsiCo India.

Manish holds a degree in Electronics, and an MBA in Marketing and Leadership from the Tuck School of Business in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Outside of work, Manish is an avid golfer and loves travelling.

Mr. Rakshit Hargave is currently the CEO of Birla Opus Paints, Aditya Birla Group. He joined the Group in Nov, 2021. Rakshit comes from the consumer industry having worked in multiple organizations within and outside India.

Prior to joining Aditya Birla, he was based out of Bangkok, heading the overall business for the German multinational Beiersdorf (NIVEA) for ASIA PACIFIC countries (less China). Before that he was based out of Dubai heading the Beiersdorf business for South Asia, Africa and heading Distribution Development globally. He was also the Managing Director at Nivea India, scaling the business up very successfully during his tenure over a period of 6 years.

Prior to Nivea, he has worked with Unilever, Domino’s Pizza and Nestle India. He was the Chief Operating officer for Lakme Lever in HUL. He was the Marketing Head of Dominos while implementing the iconic Dominos 30-minute guarantee and turning it into the social lexicon of today. He was also the Brand Manager for Maggi Noodles and Polo Mints while in Nestle.

He started his career with Tata Motors after graduating in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, BHU. Later, he went on to complete his MBA from FMS, New Delhi. He is based out of Mumbai. Rakshit likes travelling, rock music, photography and reading up on numerous topics while actively following multiple sports.

Mr. Abhijit Roy, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Berger Paints India Limited is a Mechanical Engineer from Jadavpur University and an alumni of IIM Bangalore.

He started his career with Asian Paints (I) Ltd. & joined Berger Paints in 1996. He took over as Managing Director and CEO of the company in 2012.

It was under his leadership, Berger India’s market cap has increased from INR 3693 Crore in 2012 to INR 57,300 Crore in 2024.

Mr. Abhijit Roy was listed by Business Today as Best 100 CEOs of India twice, nominated as Best CEO in Private sector by Forbes India twice, received Most Enterprising CEO Award from Times Business Awards, Business Leader of the Year Award by SANMARG Group and DISTINGUISHED ALMUNI AWARD by IIM (Bangalore).

He is the past Chairman of CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRY (CII), Eastern Region & past President of INDIAN PAINT ASSOCIATION (IPA). He is also Managing Committee member and President Designate of Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious change makers define the future. Across 65 cities in 40 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today’s urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. We earned a platinum rating from EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social, and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains, putting us in the top 1% of all companies. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry.

In India, Bain has worked with clients in sectors including consumer products, retail, apparel, industrial goods and services, infrastructure, healthcare, technology, telecom, financial services, automotive, agriculture and private equity. The firm’s project experience includes growth strategy, M&A/due diligence, post-merger integration, organizational redesign, full potential, market entry, and performance improvement and change management. Bain's robust analytic tool kit and fact‐based approach enables it to deliver innovative and pragmatic strategies that create value. Many of our clients are Indian promoter‐led companies and a number of our clients come back to us for further work, given our results record of accomplishment.

Geetika Mehta is the current Managing Director of NIVEA India, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to steer the brand toward becoming a leading name in the skincare industry. She has a proven track record of developing and nurturing small businesses as well as leading growth for large corporations, resulting in increased profitability and turnaround. She was featured in The Economic Times' 40 under Forty list of India's Top Young Business Leaders and IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women 2022.

She was recognized by ET Prime Women Leadership Awards 2023 as DEI Ally of the Year. Geetika has been a contributor in various industry bodies – FICCI, CII, AMCHAM. She has also been driving the agenda on Sustainability in key industry forums.

Geetika's extensive experience and strategic vision align seamlessly with NIVEA India's commitment to providing consumers with superior product quality in line with its care proposition. Before joining NIVEA India, Geetika served as the Managing Director at Hershey India for 2.5 years, where she deepened the company's presence in the fast-growing Indian chocolate market. Meanwhile, Geetika's illustrious 18-year journey at Hindustan Unilever Limited equipped her with diverse experience in commercial and consumer marketing within HUL. She handled increasing responsibilities in Foods and Homecare across various markets, contributing to market-leading results on both the top and bottom lines. Geetika also served as the General Manager for Unilever's Home & Hygiene business and was on the board of directors for Toilet Board Coalition (TBC) India Chapter, addressing the global sanitation crisis.

Her leadership has always put the emphasis on diversity and inclusion, with a significant increase in the representation of women in leadership roles. As the newly appointed Managing Director of NIVEA India, Geetika aims to bring the same values on board while driving innovation, enhance customer experiences, and solidify NIVEA's position as the skincare brand of choice for millions of Indians. Her vision and expertise promise to usher in an era of leadership that aligns with the brand's core values of trust, care, quality, courage, and simplicity.

Prashant is the Managing Director, India & South Asia, Kellanova. He is also the member of the leadership team of Kellanova AMEA (Asia, Middle East, Africa) region.

Prashant comes with an enriched experience of more than 25 years in the FMCG sector, particularly focused on food and as described in his own words “Food is a passion for me because of how close we get to the lives of consumers”.

He joins Kellanova from Mondelez International, where he led the Indonesia business as President and Managing Director, prior to which he led the chocolates business for Mondelez in India. Prashant’s rich experience in the Foods, Snacks, Beverages and Personal Care categories spreads across diverse markets in Asia, ANZ and Africa, where he has led the foods category for South Asia in Unilever and earlier stints include several senior roles in sales and marketing at Unilever in the South Asia region, Turkey, Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, and China.

Prashant is the chairman of AMCHAM’s Agriculture & Food Processing Committee 2022-23. He is also a member of some key FICCI’s & CIIs committees.

He holds a Master’s degree in Business Management in Marketing and Strategy from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Production) from Bombay University.

Prashant is married to Kamolika, he has two children, Priyanka & Prateek. He enjoys visiting historic sites and weekend trips with his pet dog Aslan!

Mangalam Maloo recently completed 10 years at India’s leading business news channel CNBC-TV18

At CNBC-TV18, he is a Senior Anchor and the Deputy Editor.

Mangalam keeps a hawk eye on the Great Indian Consumer Story.

He tracks the FMCG, Retail, Quick Service Restaurants, eComm, Home improvement and the Logistics sector.

Armed with a Bachelor's in Mass Media, CFA and MBA in finance, he relishes the challenge of telling business stories in an engaging manner.

The best of both worlds, says Mangalam of his job as he gets to combine his love for story telling with his passion for analysing numbers and market trends.

Mangalam hosts the daily shows Chartbusters and Half Time Report, and also special shows like Consumption Corner, The Weekender, Disruptors, and Media Dialogues. He is known for his candid, insightful and incisive interviews.

Mangalam was among the awardees of Exchange4Media's English Journalism 40 under 40 in 2022, which recognises the best professionals across print, television and digital.

And when he is not poring over numbers, you may catch him posting #FMCGisLife on his social media handles, or digging anything music, fitness, entertainment or sneakers.