CEO exit highlights Ola’s mounting ride-hailing struggles

Last week, SoftBank-backed Ola Cabs announced that CEO Hemant Bakshi would leave the company after only eight months at the helm of the ride-hailing unicorn.

For those who have tracked Ola closely or been associated with the company, Bakshi’s exit comes as no surprise. The Ola CEO position is widely viewed as one of the most difficult assignments in the Indian startup ecosystem, having seen constant churn over the past few years. Its allure has only worsened since the advent of Ola’s sister company, two-wheeler EV manufacturer Ola Electric*. Today, many in the industry believe that Ola plays second fiddle to Ola Electric, at least in terms of the priorities of founder Bhavish Aggarwal.

Bakshi was fully aware of what he was getting into. At a press conference in January at Ola’s Bengaluru headquarters, he told the media that many, including his mother, asked him why he was joining Ola after serving for more than three decades at FMCG major Hindustan Unilever. As Bakshi explained it, he was swayed by the disruptive potential of Ola’s EV bike taxi plans.