Aakash Educational Services Appoints New Executives for Growth

Aakash Educational Services, a leading provider of test preparation solutions in India for engineering and medical entrance examinations, has revealed the appointments of Alka Garg as Chief Financial Officer and Kanika Kumar Nijhawan as Senior Vice President – Marketing. These strategic appointments reflect the company’s commitment to enhancing and professionalising its management to achieve rapid growth and superior business performance.

Leadership Appointments at Aakash Educational Services

Alka Garg comes on board with over 22 years of strategic and operational knowledge, gained from working with listed companies and dynamic startups. She has collaborated with founders, CEOs, and executive teams to foster enterprise value creation, facilitate profitable expansion, and ensure sustainable growth. In her new position, she will lead the financial operations at AESL, craft financial strategies, boost operational efficiency, reinforce governance practices, and underpin the company’s future development initiatives.

Before her tenure at AESL, Garg held the position of Chief Financial Officer at Yum Restaurant India, where she played a pivotal role in shaping the financial strategy for KFC and enhancing the overall business performance. Her previous leadership roles span various sectors, including stints at Siemens, GreyOrange, Bharti Airtel, and Deloitte.

Kanika Kumar Nijhawan brings over 17 years of expertise across media, retail, and sports industries to her role at AESL. She possesses extensive knowledge in brand development, strategic marketing, digital and performance marketing, as well as omnichannel engagement. Before joining Aakash, she spent ten years at Adidas India as Director – Brand Marketing and has also contributed her talents to HT Media and Sony Entertainment.

Earlier, Deepak Mehrotra, the Managing Director and CEO of Aakash, resigned from his role in August of the previous year, marking an exit just 16 months after his appointment in April 2024.

Aakash Educational Services focuses on delivering comprehensive preparation for significant medical (NEET) and engineering (JEE) entrance exams, along with competitive assessments such as NTSE and Olympiads. The company operates a nationwide network of over 415 centres, serving more than 400,000 students currently enrolled in its programmes.