Gati Leadership Team

Mr. Mahendra Agarwal is the Founder & CEO of Gati Ltd. – leader and pioneer in Express Distribution and Supply Chain Solutions. He established Gati in 1989 with an aim to redefine the logistics industry and is the driving force behind Gati’s journey to its leadership position. Under his visionary leadership, Gati has evolved into a major ILSP (Integrated Logistics Service Provider).

Mr. Agarwal is an avid speaker and has been invited to many symposia and forums like the Global Logistics Summit 2006 held at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and the Logistics 2005 conference. He was also invited by IIM (Ahmedabad) to interact with the students. In June 2008, he was awarded “Best Entrepreneur of the Year” by Hyderabad Management Association. In September 2010, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th Express Logistics & Supply Chain Conclave held at Mumbai. In the same year he was also conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award from ASBM. In 2012, he was honoured with two more awards – ‘Executive of the Year’ Award (Logistics) by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for his contribution to the Indian Supply Chain & Logistics Industry and “Logistics Promoter Award” at the Logistics Talent Hunt 2012 International Conference. In October 2015, he was presented with the prestigious NITIE Empresario “Most Inspiring Entrepreneur of the Year” award at the NITIE Campus in Mumbai for his contributions to the Indian Logistics Industry.

A leader, thinker and philosopher, Mr. Agarwal is an institution by himself. Apart from being on the Board of several Indian companies, he is also the founder member of Supply Chain & Logistics Group (SCLG) India (in addition to being a member of the international board of advisors for SCLG Global), member of CII National Council, Special Invitee to CII Southern Region Council, member of CII Institute of Logistics Advisory Council, FICCI’s Civil Aviation Committee & FICCI’s Logistics Forum. He holds an Engineering Degree from Bangalore University and a Masters in Business Administration from Austin, USA. He is an avid golfer and has keen interest in travelling. He is an active proponent of sustainable energy technologies and has promoted Amrit Jal Ventures Private Limited, a hydro focussed renewable energy platform, in his individual capacity.

Mr. Agarwal continues to guide Gati towards the future with characteristic passion and a commitment to excel.

Bala Aghoramurthy is the President & Director of GATI-KWE. In this role he is responsible for establishing the company’s goals and strategies and providing

directional guidance to the workforce. Additionally, Bala will also provide leadership direction to the Gati businesses (ICE). He is also responsible for overseeing

budgets; ensuring resources are properly allocated and providing high level supervision to departmental goals and achievements. Bala will also be inducted into the

Gati-KWE board.

Bala comes with close to 17 years of experience in supply chain management, product development and operational efficiency. Prior to joining Gati, Bala was the General

Manager, Supply Chain, Refreshment with Unilever, South Asia. Bala started with Unilever as a Management Trainee in 1998 and has held various leadership positions in

the organisation that ranges from technology, product development, manufacturing operations, quality assurance and customer relationships for a wide array of

products/divisions of Unilever. In his last role he was a key partner at Unilever Foods & Refreshment Business where he was instrumental in planning long-term

growth strategies and focus on both the top-line and bottom-line results.

Bala holds a Bachelor’s degree in Technology (Chemical Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai and a Master’s degree in Science (Chemical

Engineering) from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA.

“G.S. Ravi Kumar has 27 plus years experience in the field of Information Technology. Has worked extensively in service & manufacturing industries in various

organisations in senior roles. Prior to joining Gati Limited he worked as General Manager’ Information Technology, heading the Indian IT operation for a Multinational,

SHV Energy India Ltd., the world largest LPG Company. He is associated with Gati Limited in the capacity of Chief Information Officer for the last 16 plus years.

During his tenure he has played a major role in transforming the entire IT system of Gati Limited to be at par with best in the industry. He was involved in developing

a Software Product called “Gati Enterprise Management System”‘ GEMS a custom developed ERP for the Express Cargo industry and also an unique and innovative mobile

based solution.

• Has been awarded the “Champion CIO” in the Year 2005 for less than Rs.1000 Crore companies in India across industries by CIOL & Dataquest
• He has also figured in the 50 Power CIO’s list (50 Indian Tech Gurus) of Dataquest of Nov’08 issue.
• He has figured in the 100 CIO Powerlist – 2008 in India in Jan-Feb issue of CIO Decision an IT magazine of Indian Express Group.
• Has been awarded the “Champion CIO” in the Year 2009 for less than Rs.1000 Crore companies in India across industries by CIOL & Dataquest.
• Was awarded “CIO – Ingenious 100” in 2009 organised by CIO Magazine (IDG Media Group).
• Won the NASSCOM – CNBC “IT User Award – 2009” for the logistics vertical.
• Was awarded “CTO of the Year 2010 – Second Runner Up” by CTO Forum.
• Was awarded “CIO – Agile 100” in 2010 organised by CIO Magazine (IDG Media Group).
• Was awarded “EDGE – 2010” for Enterprise Mobility by Information Week
• Was awarded “EDGE – 2011” Video Conferencing by Information Week.
• Was awarded “India’s 100 Most Respected CIO Award” for 2011 by CIO Association of India
• Was awarded “CI0 -100″ for the year 2012 organised by CIO Magazine (IDG Media Group).”
• Was awarded “Dataquest Business Technology Excellence Awards 2012 & Business Technology Innovation Awards 2012 – Category – Mobility”
• Was awarded “CI0 -100″ for the year 2013 organised by CIO Magazine (IDG Media Group).” & CIO HALL OF FAME – 2013
• Was awarded – Dataquest Business Technology Awards 2015 ” Category -” MOBILITY” for the year 2015
• Was awarded CIO POWER LIST 2015 – ” LOGISTICS ICON” for the year 2015.
• Was awarded CIO POWER LIST 2016 – ” LOGISTICS ICON” for the year 2016.
• Was awarded CIO POWER LIST 2016 – ” DIGITAL ICON” for the year 2016.
• Was awarded India’s Best CIO’s 2016 “Top 50 Honoree” by CAI CIO Association of India.
• Was awarded Netmagic Re-innovation Awards 2016 for “Excellence in Mobility Deployment”.

Pavel Chopra is our Chief Group Human Resource, Business Support Group (BSG) and Vigilance Officer and is responsible for leading HR priorities and developing HR initiatives across all of Gati’s businesses. In this role, his focus includes aligning Gati’s People strategy with business objectives, building a culturally aligned and diverse organization, talent development & management and implementing effective and contemporary HR policies & systems.

With more than 16 years of experience in HR, Pavel has contributed to various aspects of people management in both business and corporate roles, including Employee Relations, Compensation & Benefits, Organization Capability Building and M&A integration.

Pavel started his career with GE Capital India and later moved to GE Capital International Services (later renamed as Genpact). He worked with Genpact for over a decade and handled multiple responsibilities across many business and corporate roles. His last role in Genpact was Compensation & Benefits Leader for Genpact India. He then moved to Birla Sun Life Insurance to set up its Compensation & Benefit function and later moved to Sony Entertainment Television Network as the Senior HR Business Partner.

Pavel earned a PGCHRM from XLRI, Jamshedpur, Masters in Computer Science from IGNOU and a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Delhi University.
Pavel is an avid non-fiction reader, loves traveling and enjoys watching unconventional movies and documentaries.

Shridhar Upadhyay is a seasoned leader with 30 years of rich experience in Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain Management, planning, long term growth strategies, and

focus on both the top-line and bottom-line results.
He joined Gati in 1995 and has grown up through the ranks, successfully handling various portfolios during his long tenure within Gati by displaying strong leadership,

interpersonal communications, strategic thinking, business acumen and analytical skills. In his present role as Chief Supply Chain Operations Officer of Gati-KWE, he

is a key member of the executive team, contributing to strategic decision making and operational execution of the company initiatives all across the organization to

enhance and support the Vision & Mission.
Shridhar holds a Graduate degree from Gorakhpur University – UP, and is an ardent music lover.