Sareeta Bhatikar has moved from HDFC Life to jio-bp as chief human resources officer, marking a significant cross-sector transition from life insurance to India’s expanding mobility and energy space.
Bhatikar spent over six years at HDFC Life, most recently as head of human resources. In that role, she led the people strategy for more than 40,000 employees, working with a 150-member HR team. Her tenure coincided with a period of high attrition, intense market competition and business complexity in the insurance sector.
One of the defining milestones of her stint was leading the people transformation agenda during the merger of Exide Life with HDFC Life—an integration widely seen as one of the more complex consolidations in the insurance industry. She also oversaw talent acquisition and employer branding as part of her earlier responsibilities as senior vice president–HR.
With over 24 years of HR leadership experience, Bhatikar has worked across insurance, pharmaceuticals, telecom, IT and shipping. Prior to HDFC Life, she served as HR head for India business at Cipla, where she supported a workforce of over 10,000 employees. Her earlier roles include senior HR leadership positions at Vodafone, where she handled business HR, employee relations, performance management and HR transformation initiatives. She has also worked with Unilever, Maersk and Larsen & Toubro Infotech.
Across roles, she has led HR centres of excellence spanning talent management, performance systems, HR technology, shared services and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Her experience includes managing large-scale change programmes, global mobility portfolios and compliance-led investigations.
At jio-bp, Bhatikar steps into a business positioned at the intersection of conventional fuels, electric mobility solutions, aviation fuels and retail-led customer experiences. As the company continues to expand its footprint across mobility formats, she is expected to shape the people and culture strategy to support scale, capability building and organisational agility.
Her move reflects a broader pattern of seasoned HR leaders moving across sectors, particularly into industries undergoing structural transformation.
