Executive Team

Go beyond the brands and discover the people that drive our success.

Ram Raghavan

Managing Director

Mr. Ram Raghavan is the Managing Director of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), and provides strategic leadership to Colgate-Palmolive, India and South Asia, since August 2019. Mr. Raghavan joined CPIL in 1997 as a Management Trainee and assumed increasing levels of responsibilities in Customer Development and Marketing. Over the years, he progressed through a series of leadership roles across Colgate-Palmolive’s various divisions and subsidiaries.

In 2003, he moved to Hong Kong to join the Asia-Pacific Division. In 2004, he moved to C-P China and sequentially managed the Toothbrush and Toothpaste businesses with innovative products. In 2008, he became Marketing Director for C-P Canada. In 2010, he returned to China as Marketing Director. In 2013, he became the General Manager for the Latin America CIC, where he was instrumental in developing the platform-based innovation model supporting Latin America organic growth.

Mr. Raghavan holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics and an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, both located in Mumbai, India.

M.S. Jacob

Whole-time Director & Chief Financial Officer

Mr. M.S. Jacob is the Whole-time Director & Chief Financial Officer at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since October 2016, providing overall financial leadership, including Investor Relations. Mr. Jacob joined CPIL in 1995 in the Continuous Improvement Group. Over the course of 23 years, Mr. Jacob served through leadership roles in Finance at Colgate-Palmolive Company’s subsidiaries in India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia as well as at the Asia Pacific Division Head Quarters in Hong Kong.

Prior to joining the position of CFO at CPIL, Mr. Jacob was Finance Director of Colgate-Palmolive Malaysia Group where he led several key initiatives including the local execution of the Global Growth Efficiency Program and a successful transition to the Goods & Services Tax.
Mr. Jacob holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Mumbai University and is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Surender Sharma

Vice President – Legal

Mr. Surender Sharma is the Vice President – Legal, at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since October 2018. Mr. Sharma leads the Legal and Secretarial function to ensure regulatory compliance and provides legal advice to the Leadership Team of Colgate-Palmolive India across functions and on matters relating to Corporate Affairs.

Mr. Sharma joined CPIL in 2017 as the Associate Director – Legal, where he provided legal support to the Marketing, Customer Development and Supply Chain functions. Previously, Mr. Sharma was working with Marico Limited as the Head of Legal and Company Secretary. Prior to joining Marico, Mr. Sharma held leadership positions with reputed organizations like Heinz, Indian Hotels Company, Reckitt Benckiser and Maruti Suzuki, where he spent close to 20 years as in-house counsel and handled litigation management, contract management, corporate governance, and legal compliance.
Mr. Sharma holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Delhi and is a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

Arvind Chintamani

Vice President, Marketing

Mr. Arvind Chintamani is the Vice President - Marketing, at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since April 2018, and leads the marketing function. He joined the Company in 2000, and assumed increasing responsibilities in Customer Development, Marketing and Innovation across various geographies in India and in the U.S. In 2014, he was the Marketing Director of the Malaysia Hub. Prior to assuming his current position, he was the Worldwide Director - Oral Care, at Colgate-Palmolive's Corporate Office in New York.

Mr. Arvind Chintamani holds a Graduate Degree in Economics from Delhi University and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB).

M. Chandrasekar

Whole-time Director & Executive Vice President- Customer Development

Mr. M. Chandrasekar is the Whole-time Director & Executive Vice President - Customer Development leading the Customer Development vertical of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since April 2016. He joined the Company in 1989 in Customer Development and progressed to hold several senior positions across the Customer Development function in India. Prior to his current role, he was the Vice President, Customer Development, since 2012.

Mr. Chandrasekar holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from American College, Madurai in India.

Dr. Edna Ambundo

Vice President- India Global Technology Center

Dr. Edna Ambundo is the Vice President - India Global Technology Center at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since January 2019. Dr. Ambundo leads the Implementation & Support (I&S) Team responsible for executing the Innovation and Funding the Growth (FTG) programs in Oral, Personal and Home Care for Colgate-Palmolive India, Africa/Eurasia and Europe (Personal Care) Divisions. Dr. Ambundo is also responsible for the Analytical and Microbiology Teams based in India Global Technology Centre (IGTC) that provides global support.

As a Scientist, Dr. Ambundo’s contributions to the Oral Care Category at Colgate have been immense. Among her many notable achievements was a complex project, first of its kind that standardized and streamlined the stability programs for Oral Care formulations globally. Under her leadership, the team delivered outstanding results in Research and Development.

Prior to her current position, she was the Associate Director - North America Oral Care Implementation & Support.

She joined Colgate-Palmolive Company in 2003 as a Research Scientist in the Home Care Detergents group.

Dr. Ambundo holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Nairobi in Kenya, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.

Adolfo Lara

Vice President- Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Mr. Adolfo Lara is the Vice President - Manufacturing and Supply Chain, at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since December 2016. In his current role, Mr. Lara is responsible for the overall management of the Colgate Plants at Baddi, Goa, and Sanand in India. His area of focus is on optimizing all manufacturing operations to deliver superior customer service, product quality, and Environmental, Occupational Health & Safety (EOHS) performance.

He joined Colgate, Mexico in 1994 as the Team Leader for the Integrated Liquids Facility Project. Over the course of his career, he has held senior management roles at Colgate-Palmolive, New York, Northern & Latin America and at Mission Hills Facility, Mexico. Prior to joining as the Vice President - Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Mr. Adolfo Lara was the Plant Director at the Dallas Plant where under his leadership he enabled the transition of production to the Tennessee plant.

Mr. Adolfo Lara holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Michoacana in Morelia, Mexico and completed studies in International Business from the Alliant International University, Mexico City.

M. K. Ajay

Executive Vice-President, Human Resources

Mr. M.K. Ajay is the Executive Vice President - Human Resources, at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since November 2016. He joined CPIL in 2002 in the Human Resources function. Since then, he progressed in positions of increasing responsibilities as the Director - Human Resources for Colgate Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from 2006, before taking up the position in 2012 as HR Director - Global IT and Colgate Business Services (CBS), at Colgate-Palmolive, New York. As HR Director Global IT and CBS, he made significant contributions in leading the organizational aspects of expansion and transformation of the Business Services function, located at multiple offices across US, Mexico, Poland, Ireland, and India. He has a diverse experience in all aspects of HR and Change Management in multiple global locations.

In his previous role, Mr. Ajay was the Vice President - Human Resources, since June 2015.

Prior to joining Colgate, he worked in Human Resources for Asian Paints.

Mr. M.K. Ajay holds an MBA Degree from XLRI School of Management, Jamshedpur.

Maneesh Kumar

Vice President - Manufacturing & Supply Chain of Toothbrush

Mr. Maneesh Kumar is the Vice President - Manufacturing & Supply Chain, in the Toothbrush Category at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since October 2017. Mr. Kumar is responsible for the overall management of Manufacturing and Supply Chain of the Toothbrush Category of the Company. He joined CPIL in 1993 and progressed through positions of increasing responsibility in manufacturing, finished goods sourcing, and customer-service & logistics. He was also the Plant Manager in the Company's plants at Mumbai and Goa.

In 2013, he moved to Piscataway, USA as the Regional Associate Director, CMS Engineering (North America and Europe) where he led the North America / Europe Oral Care capital budget management program, new building design & construction, and manufacturing synergy. Later in 2015, he moved to India to lead the Regional CMS Engineering, Asia Supply and also led the Myanmar plant manufacturing upgrade project.
Prior to assuming his current role, he was the Director Manufacturing of Sri City Toothbrush Plant.

Mr. Maneesh Kumar holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Technology from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur in India.

V. Ganesh

Vice President, Customer Service & Logistics

Mr. V. Ganesh is Vice President - Customer Service & Logistics, at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), since July 2014. He has a cross-functional diverse experience with analytics based commercial knowledge and strong working relationships with internal teams and external customers. He joined CPIL in February 1989. In the course of 30 years, he served in a number of senior positions through a cross-functional platform encompassing Customer Development, Customer Service & Logistics and Information Technology.

Before being appointed to the current role, he was the Customer Development Team Leader for the West Branch with additional responsibilities of managing the Company's Sales and Marketing Operations in Bangladesh, SriLanka & Nepal.

Last updated: March 2019