Titan Company has appointed Priya Mathilakath Pillai as chief people officer (CPO), with effect from April 2027. The announcement marks a key leadership transition as the Tata Group company prepares for its next phase of growth across jewellery, watches, eyewear and new businesses.
Pillai currently serves as head of HR, retail and corporate at Titan, a position she has held since Dec 2015. In this role of over 10 years, she leads HR for 8000+ on-roll employees, 5000 off-roll staff, manufacturing and all support functions. She also manages HR for 800+ business associates with 15,000+ employees on their rolls, and drives Titan’s D&I charter as ICC chairperson for POSH.
Her elevation reflects three decades of cross-industry experience in HR, sales, training and e-commerce. She began her career as a senior sales executive at Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces from Aug 1995 to Jan 1997, handling banquet and room sales. She then moved to Oriflame as manager – business development, South, from Feb 1997 to Sep 1999, where she launched the direct selling business in the Southern region.
From Oct 1999 to Nov 2003, she was business manager–South at Hindustan Unilever, building and managing a network of 30,000+ distributors. She served as a branch manager – Bangalore at AVIVA LIFE Insurance India from Dec 2003 to Jan 2005, leading direct sales. This was followed by an 8-month stint as a zonal manager – South India & Sri Lanka at Modi Revlon from Mar 2005 to Oct 2005.
Pillai rejoined Titan as head–training from Oct 2005 to Sep 2008, overseeing L&D for Titan Watches, Tanishq and Titan Eye Plus. She then spent seven years at Mahindra Retail as vice president & head – ecommerce and HR from Sep. 2008 to Nov. 2015. There she built a people strategy for 1500+ employees and 500+ stores in the ‘Mother & Child’ space, and scaled ecommerce revenues by over 200 per cent.
An IIM Bangalore and Harvard Business School alumna, Pillai has been vocal on HR transformation and gender-balanced workplaces. As CPO, she will focus on talent, culture and leadership development to support Titan’s long-term business goals.
HRKatha wishes Priya Mathilakath Pillai continued success in her journey ahead!
