Jobs and Employment

From telecom trenches to corner offices: The Airtel warriors taking over India Inc.

Pranav Balakrishnan

July 23, 2025 | 12 Min Read

Jio’s brutal onslaught forged Airtel’s toughest managers. Now they are among India’s most wanted executives, running everything from logistics to fast food with battle-tested skills.

Key Takeaways

Airtel has emerged as an unlikely leadership factory, placing it in the same league as HUL and McKinsey.
This talent pipeline was forged especially during Airtel’s intense battle with Reliance Jio between 2016 and 2019
Former Airtel executives now run top companies across sectors like logistics, consumer goods, ecommerce, and QSR
They bring a decade’s headstart—tackling problems back then that most companies are dealing with now.

“The experienced soldier,” Sun Tzu wrote in his Art of War, is highly effective because “once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.”

That is largely due to the benefit of tactical expertise acquired in the trenches. Like clockwork, the muscle memory kicks in, the adrenalin surges, and decisions are quick, pragmatic and taken with a killer instinct.

This is why corporate war veterans are so highly regarded. They’ve been there and done that. In high-competition, high-growth sectors where one misstep can end it all, they make excellent strategists.

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