Top 25 Skills-first Leadership Pioneers Shaping India’s Future Workforce
As organizations accelerate through AI adoption, evolving business models, and continuous disruption, one reality is becoming clear: skills, not roles, are now the true currency of work. Traditional talent models built around static job descriptions, rigid hierarchies, and tenure-based progression are struggling to keep pace with rapid technological and market shifts. In this environment, skills-first leadership have emerged as critical leaders driving skills-first transformation, bringing a clear mindset to workforce transformation.
Why Skills-first Leadership Matters Now
Skills-first talent leaders go beyond implementing new tools or learning platforms. They drive a fundamental shift in how talent is understood, developed, and valued. For these future-ready leadership India exemplars, hiring moves from pedigree to potential.
As Josh Bersin, global HR and L&D thought leader, explains:
“Skills are becoming the new organizational currency. Companies that understand, develop, and deploy skills dynamically will outperform those still managing jobs and titles.”
Top 25 Skills-first Leadership Champions in India
Building on this shift, Tekstac presents the Top 25 skills-first leadership champions in India, who are translating intent into impact. Together, these workforce transformation leaders are shaping up a workforce model designed for resilience and relevance.
1. Vivek Ranjan
CHRO, Zensar
With over 26 years of global HR leadership experience, he has led diverse workforces, scaled businesses, and built high-performance cultures across geographies. As Zensar’s CHRO, he leads global HR transformation, cultivating a distinctive culture to evolve into a fully skills-based powerhouse. His earlier career includes 12 years in the UK, where he built and scaled European HR operations for multinational IT organizations, delivering best-in-class employee experiences.
2. Ankur Berry
Global HR Head, Coforge
Ankur Berry brings 23+ years of global HR leadership, managing 10,000+ workforces across 25 countries. His integrity-driven approach emphasizes inclusive upskilling, building skills-first cultures that prioritize capability over credentials. Recognized as a Top 50 Influential HR Tech Leader, he champions humane talent development for multinational agility.
3. Dr. Raju Mistry
Former Global Chief People Officer, Cipla
Raju Mistry is a widely recognized HR leader whose work has been acknowledged across platforms such as Forbes Best Employers and ETHRWorld Top 50. She combines strong L&D strategies with data-led people analytics, an approach that also earned her recognition as a SHRM 2025 award winner. Her inclusive people practices have consistently contributed to Great Place to Work certifications.
4. Dr. Sumit Mitra
CEO, Tesco Business Solutions & Tesco India
A visionary leader with over 20 years of experience, Dr. Sumit Mitra oversees a global workforce of 20,000+ colleagues across India, Hungary, and Central Europe. He is renowned for transforming Global Capability Centers (GCCs) into engines of innovation and strategic value. Under his leadership, Tesco’s global operations have integrated cutting-edge AI and data-led retail solutions, setting benchmarks for excellence in the retail-tech landscape.
5. Dr. Mohan Bellur
Director – Human Resources, Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW)
With a career spanning over three decades, Dr. Mohan Bellur is a specialist in navigating large-scale organizational transformations and cultural shifts. He leads HR strategy for one of the world’s largest software hubs, focusing on the intersection of technology, talent, and leadership. His expertise in industrial relations and strategic workforce planning has been pivotal in scaling Bosch’s engineering excellence and fostering a culture of continuous learning.
6. Shweta Mohanty
Head of People & Culture, India, SAP
With 23 years of expertise, Shweta Mohanty leads SAP India’s HR, pioneering initiatives to build a skills-based organization. Her D&I advocacy (Girls Power Tech) builds diverse, skilled talent pools. She expands learning models enterprise-wide.
7. Ayaskant Sarangi
CHRO, Mphasis
Leading global HR for 25+ years, Ayaskant integrates talent management, L&D, and analytics for performance breakthroughs. As Executive Council member, he operationalizes skills-first strategies worldwide. He elevates people as strategic assets.
8. Srilata Kolachana
Director of Learning and Development, APAC, CGI
With over 25 years of cross-functional expertise, Srilata leads the L&D strategy for the APAC region, driving talent transformation for a massive, diverse workforce. She specializes in building high-performance cultures through agile learning frameworks and leadership development initiatives. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between digital disruption and human capability, ensuring talent readiness across one of the world’s most dynamic markets.
9. Lakshmanan M
EVP (Former CHRO), L&T Technology Services
Having transitioned from a strong foundation in the public sector to executive leadership at L&T, he excels at engineering skills-focused transformations. A recognized NHRDN leader and keynote speaker, he is dedicated to building future-ready workforces that bridge the gap between traditional engineering and digital innovation.
10. Ritu Chakrabarti
AVP and Global Head of Learning and Development, LTIMindtree
A seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience, Ritu orchestrates global learning strategies that align with large-scale organizational priorities. Having held leadership roles at Wipro and Accenture, she is a specialist in navigating complex IT talent ecosystems. She was named one among the Top 50 UK Woman Leaders by Santander and a recipient of global awards from ATD and Brandon Hall.
11. Satyadeep Mishra
CHRO, R Systems
A dynamic HR leader with 20+ years of experience, Satyadeep specializes in driving organizational transformation across global tech and product engineering firms. Previously a core leader at Reliance Jio and Bajaj Finserv, he is an expert in scaling digital talent, performance management, and building robust leadership pipelines. At R Systems, he leads the people strategy for a global workforce, focusing on high-growth culture and tech-driven HR innovation.
12. Varun Salaria
Director & India Lead – Learning, Talent and OD, Publicis Sapient
With over 2 decades of experience across the IT and digital business transformation sectors, Varun spearheads the talent development strategy for Publicis Sapient in India. He is a specialist in crafting high-impact “Power Skill” frameworks and leadership development programs that align with rapid technological shifts. His expertise lies in building agile, learner-centric cultures and leveraging data-driven insights to enhance organizational performance and employee experience.
13. Priya Aneesh
Senior Director, PwC
A 25-year HR veteran, Priya fosters “Diversity in Thought” via data-driven L&D, championing women’s empowerment and cultural agility. Her transformative initiatives integrate business strategies with talent upskilling. She coaches teams for excellence.
14. Deepak Kumar Arora
Vice President – Head Learning & Development, Birlasoft
With 28 years of experience across giants like Capgemini and Genpact, Deepak is a veteran architect of global learning ecosystems. He specializes in re-engineering L&D strategies through mergers and divestitures, integrating AI-powered coaching and NextGen learning platforms. At Birlasoft, he leads the “Early Edge” initiative, focusing on transforming first-generation talent and building “human-centric” leadership capabilities, emphasizing empathy and resilience as the ultimate superpowers in an AI-driven world.
15. Dr. Manoj Apte
Global Head – Learning & Development, Persistent Systems
A PhD-holding leader with a unique background in testing quality management and process engineering, Dr. Manoj Apte brings a rigorous, analytical approach to talent transformation. At Persistent Systems, he has engineered high-impact learning journeys that bridge the gap between technical expertise and leadership excellence. He recently received the ‘Transformative L&D Leader’ award from ETHR part of the ETHCA.
16. Divya Amarnath
Vice President – Talent Development, Goldman Sachs
With 23+ years across 10 countries, Divya designs learning ecosystems for 200,000+ employees, coaching BU leaders on $400M+ accounts. Her Train-the-Trainer programs build skills at scale across 129 nationalities. She engineers organization-wide proficiency.
17. Mahendran Dilli
Executive Vice President – People & Talent, Indium Software
Mahendran advances skills-first frameworks in software innovation, optimizing talent for testing and engineering excellence. His operational expertise builds adaptive teams ready for digital shifts. He bridges skills gaps with precision.
18. Mahesh D
Strategic L&OD Leader, Rakuten
Mahesh is a high-impact architect of organizational capability, currently leading a global L&D ecosystem for 8,000+ employees across 12 countries. With 22+ years of experience, he built Rakuten’s first internal digital university, improving skill proficiency by 40%. Recognized as one of the “100 Most Talented Training & Development Leaders in Asia,” he is a specialist in creating “Tech Bridge” programs that align engineering excellence with business innovation.
19. Hemant Kumar Ravi
Vice President – People Experience & Talent Transformation, Infogain
A strategic HR leader with over 18 years of experience across IT, Consulting, and FMCG, Hemant leads large-scale HR modernization for a global workforce of 5,000+. Previously a leader at EY, he is an expert in leveraging data science and people analytics to design future-ready talent ecosystems. His work at Infogain focuses on building “human-first” digital engineering cultures, integrating AI-enabled HR technology, and spearheading global leadership hiring.
20. Madhavi Juttiyavar
Global Head Learning and Development, Mastek
With over 30 years of experience, Madhavi is a strategic L&D leader known for building scalable talent engines in the IT services sector. Having held key roles at Mastek for the last 26 years, she specializes in aligning global competency frameworks with business growth. At Mastek, she drives digital-first learning initiatives, focusing on hyper-personalization and GenAI upskilling to ensure the workforce remains agile.
21. Lalith Sharma
President & CHRO, Inspira
With 24+ years of strategic leadership across the IT and BFSI sectors, Lalith is a powerhouse in HR transformation and change management. Having spent 17 years at Sify Technologies, where he rose to CHRO, he is an expert in integrating AI and digital solutions into employee experience. At Inspira, he oversees global human capital across India, USA, ASEAN, and MEA, focusing on business-aligned workforce planning and building resilient, high-performance cultures for the cybersecurity and data analytics industry.
22. Mary Andrews
Associate Vice President – Global Talent Leader, Sutherland Global Services
With over two decades of experience, Mary is a highly decorated L&D strategist and certified Master Facilitator. A specialist in building end-to-end learning ecosystems, she is renowned for co-curating full-stack digital technology training and high-impact executive coaching programs. Her career is marked by prestigious industry recognition, including L&D Leader of the Year 2024 (6th CHRO Confex, Bangalore), Next Gen L&D Luminary (GWFM & People Decode, August 2023) and Top 20 L&D Transformation Leaders (Transformance Forums, December 2022).
23. Tanuja Pereira
AVP, Head – Learning and Development, Hexaware Technologies
With 20+ years in the IT industry, Tanuja is a future-focused leader at the intersection of tech fluency and human-centered design. At Hexaware, she architects data-driven learning ecosystems that integrate directly with business agility. She is renowned for building specialized Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in Cloud, AI/ML, and Agile, leveraging strategic partnerships with giants like AWS, Microsoft, and Google.
24. Rajesh Chandran S
Sr. VP – Global Head – Talent Acquisition, L&D, Happiest Minds Technologies
A powerhouse leader with a over 3 decades of overall experience, Rajesh brings 14 years of sales and P&L experience into the heart of HR. This commercial lens allows him to lead Talent Acquisition and L&D at Happiest Minds with a sharp focus on business growth and quality of hire. He is an expert in AI-based automation and process enablement, specializing in workforce management and large-scale IT recruitment.
25. Rajkamal Vempati
Group Executive & Head Human Resources, Axis Bank
With 27+ years of experience across premier financial institutions, Rajkamal is a transformational leader known for reimagining traditional banking HR. Since joining Axis Bank in 2015, she has pioneered industry-leading initiatives like “Gig-A-Opportunities” (alternate work models), “Come As You Are” (LGBTQ+ inclusion), and “HouseWorkIsWork” (valuing homemakers’ skills).
The Road Ahead for Skills-first Leadership in India
Embracing skills-first leadership at the organizational core isn’t optional, it’s survival in India’s talent tsunami. These leaders driving skills-first transformation offer actionable blueprints: invest in micro-learning, analytics-driven upskilling, and diverse pipelines. Follow their LinkedIn wisdom, replicate their wins, and position your team for 2030 dominance.
What’s your next skills initiative? Tag a skills-first talent leader below and spark the conversation!
You could look at Thomas Raj from Neurelam the next time you publish this list. What about freelance Skill developers, what’s the thought for that?
Thank you for the suggestion. We focused this list on organizational HR leaders, but we absolutely recognize the impact of freelance skill developers and will consider including them in future editions.