Hindustan Unilever Limited announced that based on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Board of Directors vide Circular Resolution has approved the appointment of Mr. Arun Neelakantan, presently Chief Digital Officer, as Executive Director, Customer Development with effect from 1st July, 2024, in succession to Mr. Kedar Lele. Further, this is to inform that Mr. Kedar Lele has decided to move on from Unilever. The successor for the role of Chief Digital Officer will be announced in due course.

Arun Neelakantan started his career with HUL as Key Account Manager in Modern Trade in 2006 after completing his Bachelor's Degree from IIT Madras, Master's from Penn State University, followed by an MBA from Indian School of Business (ISB). Arun has a proven track record of performance at HUL and has led large teams and change agenda in Customer Development and Marketing, across General Trade, Modern Trade, Customer Marketing and Brand Building. In his role as Regional Manager, leading the company's branch in Chennai, Arun was able to deliver market-beating growth consistently.

Under his leadership, the South region went on to launch several path-breaking initiatives for Customer Development in India, backed by deep consumer insights and execution excellence in the market. He has played a key role in accelerating HUL's digital transformation programme across consumer, customer and operations ecosystems and has strengthened data and digital capabilities for category and eCommerce teams.