Snap appoints Pulkit Trivedi as India managing director

Snapchat parent Snap Inc. said on August 23 that it has appointed former Google executive Pulkit Trivedi as the head of its India business and unveiled a new localised operating structure, as the country emerges as a crucial market for Snapchat’s future growth.

Trivedi, who is joining as India managing director, will be responsible for leading the company’s operations in the country, including driving revenue, supporting partners, and nurturing the creator ecosystem. He will report to Ajit Mohan, the company’s president for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

Trivedi was previously with Google, where he has spent the past five years as the Director of Google Pay – India Business Team. In this role, he was responsible for developing strategic plans for the business, forging key partnerships, and driving monetization for Google Pay in India. He has over 23 years of experience with stints at Meta, Intel, Microsoft and IBM.

“Pulkit’s deep expertise in building and scaling businesses and finding ways to drive outsized growth for partners will enable us to continue delighting our surging community of over 200 million Snapchatters in India” Mohan said.

Trivedi said “India is one of the world’s fastest-growing internet economies giving Snap an exceptional opportunity to actively contribute to the expansion of our community and businesses. Snap has a reputation for being a true innovator and has built a thriving community in India with a product that has connected with so many young Indians”

New operating structure
Snap also unveiled a new operational structure wherein the local teams including growth, market development, partnerships, content and creator ecosystem teams will report directly to Trivedi.

Mohan said unifying the local teams under the new structure will set the “right stage for making accelerated investments in India and enable us to further fuel the growth of our community and partners.”

In May 2023, Snapchat had claimed to have crossed 200 million monthly active users in India.

The company’s growth in India is driven by its investments to localise the Snapchat experience for the Indian community. This includes adding culturally relevant content, developing highly active and creative local creator communities, and investing in local products, marketing initiatives, and language support.

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has previously said that they are also making use of learnings from the company’s expansion efforts in the country to drive community growth in new geographies.

In November 2022, Snap roped in Mohan, who was previously serving as Meta’s vice president and India managing director, as its president for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, overseeing the company’s business in India, Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea markets.

This hire was part of Snap’s regional leadership restructuring in August last year, wherein it created a new president role in Americas, EMEA and APAC regions.

The development also comes at a time when Snap continues to witness a revenue slump due to a weak digital advertising market and Apple’s recent privacy changes in its iOS operating system that has made it harder to deliver targeted ad campaigns to iOS users.

Last month, the firm reported a second straight quarterly revenue decline, with overall sales declining by 4 percent year-on-year (YoY) to $1.1 billion. Net loss however narrowed more than 10 percent YoY to $377 million. Moneycontrol