CFO change: Shilpa Kedia appointed CFO & Group CFO; Ashwath Bhat resigns
New finance chief: Shilpa Kedia has joined as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately, and is the Company's CFO & Group Chief Financial Officer from October 19, 2026.
By ScoutQuest · · 3 min read
- New CFO & Group CFO
- Shilpa Kedia, effective immediately
- Effective Date as CFO & Group CFO
- October 19, 2026
- Authorised KMP for material-event disclosures
- Shilpa Kedia, CFO & Group CFO, and Somya Agarwal, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer
New finance chief
Shilpa Kedia has joined as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately, and is the Company's Chief Financial Officer & Group Chief Financial Officer effective October 19, 2026. The update records this together with the resignation of Mr. Ashwath Bhat as Chief Financial Officer & Group Chief Financial Officer of the Company.
Background she brings
- She joins from Johnson & Johnson, where she served as Chief Financial Officer for its India Medical Devices & Technology (MedTech) business.
- Before that, four years at Hindustan Unilever Limited, holding leadership positions including Head of Investor Relations, Group Finance Controller, and Head of M&A, Treasury & Insurance.
- Earlier in her career, nearly a decade with J&J across its Consumer and MedTech businesses, and five years with Nokia India.
- She began her career with the Tata Administrative Services (TAS) leadership program at the Tata Group, is a Chartered Accountant with an all-India rank, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Narsee Monjee College.
What she is expected to focus on
- Directing capital toward the Company's research, platforms and products.
- Building a commercial model that prices for the value its AI creates.
- Helping investors understand how the Company's financial strategy supports earnings growth.
The release quotes Co-founder and Group CEO Srikanth Velamakanni as saying she brings the perspective of someone who has made investment decisions and been accountable for the returns, and the new CFO as saying her priority is investing behind platforms and products and giving investors a clear line of sight from that investment to durable, profitable growth.
What changes in disclosure governance
- Consequent to the resignation and the appointment, the authorisation framework for determining the materiality of events or information and for making the requisite disclosures to the stock exchanges has been revised, in supersession of the earlier intimation dated February 16, 2026.
- The revised list of authorised Key Managerial Personnel is Ms. Shilpa Kedia, Chief Financial Officer & Group Chief Financial Officer, and Ms. Somya Agarwal, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer.
Company context as described in the release
- Fractal Analytics Ltd describes itself as an enterprise AI company that builds its own AI models, platforms and products for Fortune 500 organizations.
- Its strategy rests on three pillars: AI-led Transformation (AIT), AI Foundations (AIF) and AI Work & Workforce (AIW), all powered by Cogentiq, its agentic AI platform.
- It has over 6,000 professionals across North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, and invests more than 6% of its revenue in AI R&D.
- Its models and products include Vaidya.ai, whose Vaidya 2.0 model was the first to score above 50 on OpenAI's HealthBench (hard), and PiEvolve; it incubated and spun out Qure.ai, and its businesses include Asper.ai and Analytics Vidhya.
How to read this
- This is a senior management change at the top of the finance function, with the outgoing CFO's resignation and the new CFO's appointment disclosed together.
- The accompanying governance part is the routine re-issue of the list of officials authorised to sign off on material-event disclosures, now naming the new CFO and the Company Secretary.
- The release is a statement of the new CFO's stated priorities and of forward-looking intentions, and carries the Company's standard disclaimer on such statements.
Also from Fractal Analytics
Fractal hit its highest level in 16-18 sessions; a guest called it a buy citing a breakout with rising volumes
21 Oct 2026
Fractal Analytics incorporates wholly owned step-down subsidiary FRACTAL AI QFZ LLC in Qatar with QAR 100,000 share capital
7 Oct 2026
Fractal to attend SBIFM-Amundi India Investment Seminar 2026 in Mumbai on October 9, 2026
29 Sep 2026
More numbers
- Professionals across North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific6,000
- AI R&D investment as a share of revenue6%
- Financial leadership experiencetwo decades
- Years at Hindustan Unilever Limitedfour years
- Years with Nokia Indiafive years
- Years with J&J across Consumer and MedTech businessesnearly a decade
- Vaidya 2.0 score on OpenAI HealthBench (hard)50
Nothing here is a view, opinion or recommendation of ScoutQuest, its parent, directors or employees. ScoutQuest is a technology company: this page was assembled automatically from public sources using artificial intelligence, and may contain errors or omissions. Confirm everything against the original source before you act on it. Any use of this page is at your own risk, and neither ScoutQuest nor its parent, directors or employees accepts liability for it.