Varun Bhatia

Varun Bhatia is Chief People & Culture Officer at AirAsia. In this role, he is responsible for AirAsia Group's People and Culture function, working with about 25,000 Allstars and transforming the Airline to become one of the world's best travel tech companies.

Varun is passionate about growth, transformation and change. He loves to experiment, innovate and work on new challenges, with new people, in new places! He is a HR professional, culture advocate, business champion, tech proponent, brand enthusiast, as well as a board member and advisor, angel investor, entrepreneur, teacher and a global citizen!

Varun has worked in global businesses and blue chip MNCs in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, across diverse cultures, countries and industries such as Gillette, Proctor & Gamble, Kraft Foods, Levi Strauss & Co. Earlier, In his own startup consulting company, he’s also been closely associated with early/mid stage technology companies in the Silicon Valley & Asia as a Board member, Advisor and Investor. Varun thrives on partnering with all levels in the organisation from the Board/CEO/Senior leaders to folks in day to day operations.

Truly a global citizen, having lived in Delhi, London, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Boston, San Francisco and more recently in Thailand Bangkok - having had responsibilities extending across more than 40 countries in North and South America, Africa, Eastern & Western Europe and Asia Pacific. 

Varun has an undergraduate degree in Economics and a Masters in Human Resources. He also studied Organizational Behavior at Harvard University and Corporate Finance at the London Business School and Entrepreneurship and Startup Board's effectiveness at Stanford Continuing Studies. 

Apart from his work, he has interests in music, golf, cricket and travel.