YouTube ropes in Gunjan Soni as new India head

YouTube has appointed Gunjan Soni as the new country managing director for India. She succeeds Ishan Chatterjee who stepped down from the position in 2024 to join JioCinema as chief revenue officer.

"As India remains one of YouTube's most vibrant and crucial markets, brimming with creativity and opportunity, I'm delighted to announce that Gunjan Soni has joined YouTube as our new Country Managing Director for India," Gautam Anand, vice president and managing director for YouTube APAC, said in a LinkedIn post.

Earlier, Soni served as the Group CEO of online fashion e-commerce retailer Zalora for six years in Singapore. During her stint, she introduced new categories and business models, while also enhancing user experience through personalisation and loyalty programmes.

Overall, Soni has over two decades of leadership experience spanning business, technology, marketing, and e-commerce sectors. This includes a three year stint at Flipkart-owned online fashion platform Myntra where she served in several positions, first as Chief Marketing Officer and later as Head of Jabong.

Soni also served as executive vice president at Star India for nearly two years, where she headed several new initiatives in digital content and sports, including playing a key role in the launch of video streaming platform Hotstar in 2015. Before this role, she was a Partner at McKinsey in the Consumer and Marketing practice.

"Witnessing how YouTube empowers creators and connects communities across India is truly inspiring. I'm particularly excited about building on this foundation, fostering innovation, and further enhancing the platform's role in helping creators unlock new storytelling opportunities and reach audiences globally. I am excited to work with and support our incredible partners across the ecosystem," Soni said.