Leading from the front

Manoj Kohli, currently serving Bharti Airtel as joint managing director and chief executive (India and South Asia), joined Bharti in 2002 after serving its Indian rival Escotel Mobile Communications. He served as the chief executive officer in Bharti Airtel, the Indian operations, before Snajay Kapoor replaced him early this year. Manoj Kohli led Bharti Airtel to its current leadership position in the hyper-competitive Indian telecom sector.

Bharti Airtel also outsourced its non-core operations like IT under his leadership, a practice in which it is regarded as a pioneer, Manoj Kohli also led the operator to the 100 million-subscriber mark and has laid down the vision to achieve the next 100 million. Kohli’s leadership also saw Airtel foray into the international market with an aggressive bid to takeover leading African talc – MTN. Although the deal fell through due to regulatory issues, it established the operator as a big player in the overseas market. Mr Kohli is now heading Bharti Airtel’s international business.