Condé Nast announced the appointment of Sandeep Lodha as the new managing director of India, officially assuming the role in July. Lodha replaces Alex Kuruvilla who announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down from the managing director role and transitioning to a new role within the company as Chairman Emeritus.
In his new role, Lodha will oversee all aspects of Condé Nast’s business across all brands in India. Lodha most recently served as the CEO of the music streaming app Gaana, where he re-established the company’s leadership in the industry by pivoting from a mostly free music streaming model to a paid-only model enabling a sustainable turnaround of the business. The company saw user growth, as well as growth in user retention, engagement, and subscriptions.
“Sandeep’s deep experience in retail and consumer products, as well as his technological and engineering background, make him the perfect person to lead business growth in India, where we are focused on not only our globally recognized titles but also on establishing ourselves as a centre of excellence in technology,” Pam Drucker Mann, global chief revenue officer and president, U.S. Revenue and APAC, Condé Nast, said.
Prior to Gaana, Lodha was the founder and CEO of Weddingz.in, which was acquired by OYO. Lodha’s other roles have included executive director at the Walt Disney Company in India overseeing its consumer products division, senior principle at global business consulting firm Bain & Company, as well as senior engineering titles at both Riverstone Networks (now Alcatel Lucent) and Synopsys, Inc.
In India, Condé Nast brands include Vogue, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller and Architectural Digest. Condé Nast Technology Labs, the team responsible for creating innovative, data-driven technology products and services across the company’s global portfolio, is also based in India, with offices in Bangalore and Chennai.