Bengaluru – KLAY, India’s leading early childhood education and care provider, today announced the appointment of Abhishek Joshi as Chief Executive Officer. A proven builder of some of India’s most trusted consumer brands, Abhishek takes charge at a defining moment for the education industry, as India places the early years of a child’s life at the very centre of its national education agenda.
Abhishek’s mandate is clear and ambitious: to establish KLAY as the definitive early childhood ecosystem in India, to deepen the brand’s integrated proposition across learning, care, and parenting partnership, and to widen access to high-quality early education for families nationwide. The goal is not incremental growth, but to set the standard for what early childhood can and should be in India.
This ambition is grounded in simple and settled truth: nearly 90% of a child’s brain develops before the age of six. The curiosity, confidence, and character formed in these years shape everything that follows. KLAY’s belief is that getting the early years right is not childcare, it is the foundation for life.
Abhishek brings over two decades of experience scaling some of India’s best-known consumer businesses. He has held senior leadership roles at Licious, Jubilant FoodWorks (Domino’s India), Hindustan Unilever (HUL), and GCMMF (Amul), with a track record across business transformation, category building, and customer-centric growth. Known for a transformational leadership style, he is passionate about building purpose-driven organisations and high-performing teams. He is an alumnus of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), where he earned a PGDM in Sales & Marketing, and holds a B.Tech from Govind Ballabh Pant University. Outside work, he is a fitness enthusiast who enjoys trekking, surfing, and travel, and values time with his family.
Commenting on the appointment, Sandeep Reddy, Chairman, Founding Years Learning Solutions, said:
“India is at an inflection point in how it thinks about the early years. The science is settled – what happens before a child turns six shapes the rest of their life. Our ambition is to make world-class early childhood education the norm, not the privilege, for Indian families. Abhishek has spent his career building brands that millions of Indians trust, and scaling them without ever compromising on quality. That is precisely the leadership KLAY needs to take its mission to its next chapter.”
Speaking about his appointment, Abhishek Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, KLAY (Founding Years Learning Solutions), said:
“Few things matter more than how a child experiences the first years of life. KLAY has earned something rare – the deep, daily trust of parents. I am joining to build on that trust and widen our impact: to ensure that more children across India begin life with the strongest possible foundation, and that more parents have a partner they can count on through their parenting journey. This is a mission worth giving the best years of one’s career to.”
This appointment marks an important milestone for KLAY as it accelerates its mission to deliver high-quality early childhood education and care for families across India.
