Google India finally has a country manager! Google has appointed Sanjay Gupta as its new country manager and vice president of sales and operations. Gupta comes in after Rajan Anandan, who post quitting Google, joined Sequoia Capital India as its managing director. (As per moneycontrol report)
Gupta joins Google from the position of Star and Disney India managing director. There, Gupta played an effective role in making it the country’s largest media company and increased its digital footprint with Hotstar, which is India’s largest OTT platform. He also built Star’s sports business through acquisitions of cricketing properties as well as the launch of the Pro-Kabaddi League and football league, Indian Super League.
“I am delighted to take on the challenge of leading and shaping Google’s charter in India. It is an exciting opportunity to leverage the power of technology to solve some of India’s unique challenges and make Internet an engine of economic growth for people and communities. I am happy to join the passionate teams across Google and look forward to contributing to India’s digital journey as it becomes an innovation hub for the world,” Gupta said.
Gupta’s move comes less than a year after Hotstar’s former head, Ajit Mohan, joined Facebook, arch-contemporary of Google, who initially reported to Gupta. After joining Facebook, Mohan has focussed on building revenue for Facebook, as the social media giant is targeting to close the year at $1.1 billion in revenue in India.
“Our Indian operation is important and strategic for its own sake but also for the innovation which then feeds breakthroughs elsewhere in Google. Gupta’s experience and leadership would help in strengthening Google’s position in the highly dynamic, competitive and exciting digital economy, to build a more helpful and inclusive Internet for everyone in India,” added Google president of APAC Scott Beaumont.
In 2018-19, Google’s revenue from sales of advertisements was Rs 9,203 crore, according to the Registrar of Companies filings. In 2017-18, the company had reported a gross revenue of Rs 9,338 crore.
Given his background, Gupta’s role is assumed to be critical in keeping Google ahead of the pack. In a career spanning more than three decades, Gupta has also worked at Hindustan Unilever from where he moved to Bharti Airtel as the chief marketing officer for the mobile business. He did his engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and his management degree from Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.