Meet new ABP CEO – Sumanta Datta: Driving growth across sectors for over 3 decades

ABP Network has announced its new CEO – Sumanta Datta – five months after the exit of Avinash Pandey.

Datta’s leadership at ABP Network is expected to foster innovations and steer the group through India's dynamic media landscape, leveraging his extensive experience across sectors to expand its reach and influence.

Sumanta Datta has over 30 years of experience leading extensive commercial operations, marketing, and distribution in both consumer goods and durables sectors within major multinational companies. He has successfully driven growth and market share through innovation, strategic partnerships, channel restructuring, and technology-enabled initiatives.

He has a proven track record of driving growth through innovation, partnerships, and strategic interventions in markets like India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and South-West Asia.

Datta joins ABP after a 3-year stint at Oxford University Press India as its Managing Director.

A major chunk of Datta’s career was with his first organisation, Coca-Cola, where he worked for more than two decades in various capacities. Starting in 1994, as Area Operations Manager of Central India, Delhi and Mumbai to oversee regional sales and marketing across UP, MP and Eastern Maharashtra, Datta developed franchise bottler capabilities in line with global standards and scaled up rural distribution.

Over the years his career progression saw him take over as the National Market Development Manager of India in January 1997, and he was further promoted as the Senior Brand Manager of Colas and Water in India 1.5 years later.

He moved on in 2017 after serving as Vice President-Operations for India and South West Asia for nearly 4 years. In this role, he accelerated market share by expanding the beverage portfolio, led strategic bottler re-structuring and investments in manufacturing and distribution. He delivered a double-digit CAGR of revenue and profit growth during his tenure.

From 2020-2021, Datta served as an Advisor and Operating Partner to Venture Debt funds, start-ups in Data Analytics and Food & Beverages. Enabling rapid scale-up of operations, he led portfolio diversification, new business development with global client base, and leadership coaching. 

Here, he was also a member of a global marketing think tank, Top Line Marketing, advising multinational clients on turnkey branding and marketing projects.

Datta was the Managing Director and Cluster Head of Logitech from October 2017 to February 2020, where he was responsible for the business overhaul and changing growth trajectory by investing in new categories, channel expansion and growth markets. He even delivered a whopping 30% improvement in net margins and re-ignited double-digit revenue growth.