Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the country’s biggest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, has named Priya Nair as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. She will start on August 1, 2025. This historic appointment means that for the first time in HUL’s 92-year history, a woman will be in charge. This is a big step toward more gender diversity in India’s corporate leadership. Nair, who has worked for Unilever for almost 30 years, takes over from Rohit Jawa, who will leave on July 31, 2025, after two years in the job. A lot of people are happy with her appointment, and analysts and industry leaders are sure that she can lead HUL through a tough market and drive transformative growth. This article goes into detail about Priya Nair’s journey, her accomplishments, her style of leadership, and the strategic problems and chances she will face as she gets ready to run one of India’s most famous companies.
A Journey Based on Quality
Priya Nair’s rise to the top of Hindustan Unilever shows how great her career has been, with a strategic vision, an understanding of consumers, and a deep knowledge of the Indian market. Nair was born in Kolhapur to Malayalee parents and grew up in Mumbai. She got her start in school at Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, where she earned a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounts and Statistics from 1987 to 1992. She got an MBA in Marketing from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management in Pune in 1994, which helped her improve her business skills even more. Later, she went to Harvard Business School for a management program. These qualifications set her up for a career that would see her rise through the ranks of one of the world’s biggest FMCG companies.
In 1995, Nair started working for HUL as a management trainee. She worked in sales and marketing in the company’s home care, beauty, and personal care divisions. As the Consumer Insights Manager and Brand Manager for well-known brands like Dove, Rin, and Comfort, she got a close-up look at how people shop in India’s diverse and fast-changing market. As time went on, she took on more and more important jobs. For example, she was General Manager for HUL’s western region in 2009 and Executive Director for Home Care (2014–2020) and Beauty & Personal Care (2020–2022). During her time in these positions, she led transformative projects, such as a 570-basis-point increase in home care segment margins between FY14 and FY20, which also raised HUL’s overall EBIT margin from 15% to 22.3%.
Nair moved to a global role in 2022 as Unilever’s Global Chief Marketing Officer for Beauty & Wellbeing. In 2023, she became the President of the Beauty & Wellbeing division, which includes brands like Dove, Sunsilk, Clear, and Vaseline and has a portfolio worth €13 billion. As a leader in this role, she has helped one of Unilever’s fastest-growing businesses grow by using social-first marketing strategies and influencer-driven innovation to make Unilever’s beauty brands more appealing to younger, tech-savvy customers.
A Leader in Gender Diversity
Priya Nair’s appointment as HUL’s first female CEO is a historic event, not just for the company but also for corporate India, where most senior executive positions are still held by men. She is now one of the most powerful Indian women leaders, along with Leena Nair, who became the global CEO of Chanel in 2022 after working at Unilever for 30 years. HUL has a long history of training women leaders, and some of its graduates are Prabha Narasimhan, Harman Dhillon, and Anuradha Razdan. However, Nair’s appointment to the top job shows that the company is serious about promoting gender diversity at the highest levels.
Nair’s story is especially inspiring because women often have a hard time moving up in the business world. People have praised her many times for being a smart strategist and a leader who gets things done. For example, she was named one of India’s most influential women in business. She has also been an Independent Director on the board of a publicly traded Indian company, a member of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and a participant in public-private partnerships and industry groups like MMA India.
Strategic Vision and Style of Leadership
Nair is a great leader because he knows what customers want, focuses on new ideas, and can handle complicated market situations. The “Kan Khajura Tesan” mobile marketing campaign was one of her most impressive accomplishments. It won three Gold Lions at Cannes in 2014 for its creative way of reaching rural customers through radio content that people missed calls on. This campaign showed that she could combine creativity with knowledge of the market. This skill will be very important when she becomes CEO of HUL, which is facing slow demand, more competition, and changing consumer tastes.
More from WSV
- Larry Page: The Visionary Behind Google
- Adam Kiciński: The Visionary Behind CD Projekt’s Global Rise
- Lauren Riihimaki: The DIY Queen of YouTube
Her experience working around the world, especially as the head of Unilever’s Beauty & Wellbeing division, has given her a nuanced view of premiumization and digital transformation, which are two areas where HUL wants to speed up growth. Analysts have praised her history of turning around businesses that weren’t doing well, like HUL’s home care segment, and her ability to make the portfolio more efficient and cost-effective. Nitin Paranjpe, the Chairman of HUL, is sure that she can “take HUL to the next level of performance” because she knows the Indian market well and has a track record of getting things done.
There are both problems and chances ahead.
As Nair gets ready to become CEO, she takes over a business that is struggling in a tough macroeconomic environment. HUL, which makes up about 11% of Unilever’s global revenue, has not been doing well in recent years, with volume, revenue, and earnings growth staying between 2% and 3% a year. HUL’s market position has been hurt by weak demand in cities, a slow recovery in discretionary categories, and strong competition from nimble local brands and high-end international brands. HUL needs to come up with new ideas and change its product line because of rising living costs and changing customer expectations.
Under global CEO Fernando Fernandez, Unilever is making big changes to its strategy. Nair’s appointment fits in with this. Fernandez has named India as one of two “anchor markets” for the company’s global strategy. Unilever’s “double down on India” plan, which was announced in November 2024, shows how important HUL is to the parent company’s growth goals. Nair is expected to use HUL’s ASPIRE strategy, which her predecessor Rohit Jawa came up with, to change the company’s portfolio and channels to focus on high-growth areas like premium beauty, health and wellness, and digital-first customer engagement.
One of Nair’s biggest problems will be getting HUL’s core categories, like beauty, packaged foods, and tea, to start growing again, even though competition is getting tougher. Analysts say she might try to bring more of Unilever’s global brands to India to take advantage of the growing demand for high-end and health-focused products. She is well-qualified to lead innovation in these high-margin areas because she has managed a €13 billion portfolio in beauty and wellness. HUL’s recent purchase of the skincare brand Minimalist, which was led by Jawa, also shows a move toward digital-native brands. This is an area where Nair’s knowledge of influencer-driven marketing could be very helpful.
Another important goal will be finding a balance between growth and profit. HUL’s EBITDA margins have gone up over the years, from 16.9% in FY15 to 24.8% in FY20. However, recent guidance has been changed to 22–23% to support more brand investments. Investors and analysts will be watching closely to see how Nair handles this trade-off while keeping HUL ahead of the competition. Brokerages like Nomura and Jefferies are hopeful about her appointment because she has a strong track record and Unilever is focusing more on India. HUL’s share price jumped almost 5% to Rs 2,518.65 on the BSE after the announcement, showing that investors trust her leadership.
A Personal Touch
Priya Nair is a great leader not only because of her work, but also because of who she is as a person. She lives in London with her husband Manmohan, who is an entrepreneur, and their 13-year-old daughter Mehak. She is an inspiration for women in corporate India and other aspiring leaders because she can balance a demanding global career with family life. Nair’s background in Mumbai and her knowledge of India’s cultural and economic diversity give her a unique view on how to connect with customers in both urban and rural areas.
A New Beginning for HUL
Priya Nair’s appointment as HUL’s first female CEO is a big step forward for gender diversity in Indian business and a big moment for the company. She has worked for Unilever for 30 years, during which time she has shown great leadership and built strong ties with the Indian market. This makes her the best person to lead HUL into its next phase of growth. When Nair takes over on August 1, 2025, everyone will be watching to see if she can keep her promise to improve HUL’s portfolio, deal with competition, and take advantage of India’s status as a key growth market for Unilever. Priya Nair has a history of coming up with new ideas, understanding what consumers want, and carrying out plans. She is ready to write a new chapter of success for Hindustan Unilever, which will strengthen its reputation as a leader in India’s FMCG sector.
, the country's biggest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, has named Priya Nair as its Chief Executive Officer){kind=link}