Axiata Group Berhad has announced the appointment of Vivek Sood as its new Group Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Managing Director, effective 24 March 2023.
Vivek Sood is an experienced telecommunications executive with over two decades of industry experience in multiple countries. He is no stranger to Axiata, where he has served as its Group Chief Officer for almost 6 years. Whilst maintaining his CFO role, Vivek was also appointed as one of the joint interim CEOs for the Group last year.
In his new role at Axiata, Vivek will lead the company’s strategic growth initiatives, including the expansion of 5G and digital infrastructure and service offerings. The regional telco player has appointed Dr Hans Wijayasuriya as Group Executive Director (“ED”) and CEO of Telco Business. Hans, a Telecommunications veteran counting 30 years in the industry was also joint interim CEO together with Vivek Sood and has held leadership positions across the Group for many years.
Vivek Sood, in accepting the appointment said, “Taking over as new CEO is exhilarating and overwhelming. Axiata is a great company with a clear vision of Advancing Asia, serving its customer and empowering societies. After many years in telco and six years as Group CFO and most recently interim CEO, I understand our goals, aspirations and challenges.
With Vivek’s promotion as the Group CEO, Lila Azmin Abdullah is now appointed as the Acting Group CFO. Lila is currently the Group Chief Corporate Development Officer at Axiata, and she brings with her over 25 years of experience and joined Axiata from UEM Group, where she was the Director of Group Corporate Finance.
