Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) announced today that Zaved Akhtar will be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) effective from 1 July 2021. He will be succeeding Kedar Lele, who served as CEO and MD of UBL since January 2018 and subsequently became Chairman in addition to Managing Director in 2020. Zaved Akhtar will also be joining Unilever South Asia Leadership Team.
Zaved Akhtar is currently serving the role of Vice President of Digital Transformation & Growth, Unilever South Asia, based in India. During this time, he set up the ‘Digital Council’ for Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and anchored the ‘Reimagine HUL’ agenda, a widely recognized comprehensive end-to-end digital transformation programme across Unilever.
Graduating from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka, Zaved Akhtar began his career in marketing with British American Tobacco. He joined Unilever as Senior Brand Manager for Oral Care business in 2000. He has 24 years of professional experience across the regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia.
On the occasion, Sanjiv Mehta, President of Unilever South Asia thanked Kedar Lele for his outstanding leadership in Bangladesh and was delighted to welcome Zaved Akhtar as the next CEO of UBL and in joining the South Asia Leadership Team.
