Smita Puranesh

Smita Puranesh currently serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Viacom18 and Jio Cinema, overseeing people operations since December 2022. Previously, Smita held the position of VP & HR Head for Direct to Consumer (HBO Max) in the APAC region at Warner Bros. Discovery, where responsibilities included organization design and leadership hiring. Smita's extensive experience in HR also includes roles as Director of HR at Netflix, SVP & HR Head at both Star TV Network and Hotstar, and various positions at Genpact, where leadership was provided for HR efforts in multiple subsidiaries. Smita began their career with airtel as Manager of Call Center and Customer Service Operations. Educational credentials include a BA from the University of Calcutta and a PGDMA in Hotel Management & Operations from the Institute of Hotel Management, along with SPHR certification from SHRM.