Delhivery has announced a comprehensive senior leadership change, with Vani Venkatesh elevated to Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Ajith Pai set to exit the company. According to the latest exchange filing, Ajith Pai, a founding member of Delhivery, has resigned from his position as Chief Operating Officer after more than a decade with the company. In his expanded role, Venkatesh will now lead Revenue functions, Marketing and Customer Experience and work closely with Delhivery's Operations teams. Pai's departure marks the end of a long tenure with the logistics company, where he made invaluable contributions since the very beginning as CFO before taking over as COO. As reported by Business Standard, Pai will step down at the close of business on September 15, 2026, to pursue opportunities on his own.
As reported by Business Standard, Venkatesh's expanded role encompasses three key areas - Revenue functions, Marketing and Customer Experience. Her appointment represents a significant expansion of her previous responsibilities, which focused primarily on revenue generation and business operations. Venkatesh brings more than two decades of experience across companies including Airtel, McKinsey, Unilever and Abbott Nutrition. At Airtel, she held roles including CEO of Global Business, CEO of the Delhi-NCR region, Chief Marketing Officer and CEO of its retail business. She holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and is a qualified chartered accountant, cost and works accountant and company secretary. According to recent reports, Venkatesh joined Delhivery in February 2025 as Chief Business Officer and Key Managerial Personnel, overseeing its revenue function before her elevation to Deputy CEO. Her elevation comes around 18 months after joining Delhivery and gives her a wider remit across key commercial functions while bringing her closer to the company's operations.
According to the latest exchange filing, Venkatesh's new responsibilities include Revenue functions, Marketing and Customer Experience. These areas represent critical components of Delhivery's business operations, with revenue functions being central to the company's financial performance. The addition of marketing and customer experience to her portfolio suggests a broader focus on customer engagement and brand positioning. Her continued status as KMP indicates her continued importance to the company's strategic direction. As reported by Business Standard, CEO Sahil Barua stated that "Vani's elevation reflects her increasing responsibilities and impact at Delhivery and is a part of our commitment to training executive leadership within the company to perform multiple new roles."
As reported by Business Standard, Venkatesh will work closely with Delhivery's Operations teams as part of her expanded role. This operational integration indicates her involvement in day-to-day business operations and her role in coordinating between different functional areas of the company. The leadership changes follow earlier appointments this year, including Varun Bakshi as Chief Sales Officer, Vikas Kapoor as Chief Strategy Officer, Arun Bagavathi, Prashant Gazipur and Nikhil Ummat as COOs, and Sunny Raja as Chief Procurement Officer. In November 2025, CFO Amit Agarwal stepped down and was succeeded by Vivek Pabari, while independent director Aruna Sundararajan resigned from the board. The board changes continued into 2026, with Chairman Deepak Kapoor and independent director Saugata Gupta stepping down from the board effective April 1 as part of the company's board refresh.
The leadership changes come as Delhivery reported Q1 consolidated net profit of ₹31.91 crore, representing a 65% year-on-year decline from ₹91 crore in the year-ago period. However, revenue from operations rose 28% year-on-year to ₹2,930.73 crore in Q1 FY27, compared to ₹2,294 crore a year earlier. On a sequential basis, revenue increased from ₹2,850 crore in Q4 FY26. Total expenses increased 29.4% to ₹3,011.60 crore, with freight, handling and servicing costs rising 31.4% to ₹2,152.16 crore and employee-benefit expenses increasing 21.6% to ₹428.96 crore. The figures include Ecom Express, which became a Delhivery subsidiary in July 2025 and a wholly owned subsidiary in December. Delhivery's board had also approved the reappointment of Sahil Barua as Managing Director and CEO and Kapil Bharati as Whole-time Director, Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer for five years, subject to shareholder approval.
