By Prudence Minayo
Ashish Malhotra is the Managing Director of Airtel Kenya. He has over two decades of experience working in the world of telecommunication. He has been one of the driving forces behind Airtel’s rise in subscribers from 5 million to 16 million.
A firm believer that the telecommunication industry is the backbone of society, he has ensured that Airtel Kenya offers the most affordable services in the country. According to a local publication, he finds fulfilment in connecting people and having an impact in their lives. He is also a team player.
“I am the kind of person who always compliments my team members, analyses what they are missing, and looks at what I can add to make them better,” he told theknowledgewarehouseke.com.
Here is his illustrious career as told by WoK.
Education
He attended the Army Public School then proceeded to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce at Sri Ram College of Commerce. This was followed by an MBA in Marketing and Finance at Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies. He also attended a strategic leadership program at INSEAD.
Career
He joined BPL mobile in July 2000 as a product manager. He then rose to head marketing at BPL mobile Cellular Limited (currently Vodafone Essar).
Mr. Malhotra went on to take the role of marketing manager at HUTCH-Kerala.
From 2006 to 2009, he joined DGM Marketing- prepaid at Airtel- Maharashtra & Goa in India. This was followed by a stint at Tata Docom as head marketing – TN circle.
He joined Airtel Ghana as VP- Director Marketing. One year later, he joined Airtel Kenya as the Group VP, head of usage and retention before rising to chief marketing officer and then head of sales and marketing in Africa. In the latter role, he led functions in 14 countries where the network operates.
He is credited with playing a role in the doubling of Airtel’s revenues, streamlining pricing principles and building strong unique selling propositions across the countries. He improved the retention of new acquisitions by over five per cent and grew subscriber net additions by an average of 35%.
He was appointed Managing Director of Airtel Kenya on 4th July 2022, taking over from Prasanta Das Sarms who had been in the position from 2017.
