The Coca-Cola Company has appointed Tapaswee Chandele as its new global chief people officer, marking a significant leadership transition at the helm of the beverage giant’s worldwide human resources function. Chandele succeeds Lisa Chang, who departs the role after seven years of distinguished service, with the change having taken effect on May 1.
The appointment elevates one of the company’s most seasoned internal talent executives to one of its most consequential leadership positions — a role that oversees people strategy for one of the world’s most recognisable and far-reaching corporations.
Chandele’s journey to the top of Coca-Cola’s people function is, in many ways, a testament to the very global talent philosophy she has spent decades helping to shape. She joined the company in 2001 in her native India, embarking on a career path that would take her across three continents and through some of the organisation’s most critical human resources and talent development roles. Her international footprint expanded through postings in Türkiye and South Africa before she relocated to the United States in 2017 — bringing with her a depth of cross-cultural leadership experience that few executives in her field can match.
Between 2019 and 2025, Chandele served as senior vice president of global talent, development and HR system partnerships — a role in which she was directly responsible for shaping the company’s worldwide talent management strategy and served as a key member of Lisa Chang’s own leadership team. Most recently, she has held the position of senior vice president and executive assistant to President and Chief Financial Officer John Murphy, a role she assumed in May 2025.
Now, she steps into the chief people officer seat, reporting directly to CEO Henrique Braun.
Beyond her operational responsibilities at Coca-Cola, Chandele brings an active governance profile to her new role. She serves on the board of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages in India — a position that reinforces her ties to the market where her career began — and on the board of directors of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, reflecting a personal commitment to education and women’s leadership development.
Her academic credentials are equally eclectic and impressive. Chandele holds an MBA in human resources and industrial relations from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management in India, a Master of Science in biochemistry and clinical nutrition from Seth G.S. Medical College and King Edward Memorial Hospital, and a Bachelor of Science from Sophia College for Women — all earned in India, and together representing an unusually broad intellectual foundation for a human resources executive.
Lisa Chang: Seven Years, Lasting Impact
The leadership transition brings to a close a chapter defined by steady and impactful stewardship. Lisa Chang joined Coca-Cola in 2019 from AMB Group LLC in Atlanta — the investment management and shared services arm of The Blank Family of Businesses, which encompasses AMB Sports & Entertainment, the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United FC, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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At AMB Group, Chang had led HR strategy across all group businesses, including overseeing the high-profile launches of Atlanta United and the 2017 opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Her career prior to AMB Group included senior HR leadership roles at Equifax, Turner Broadcasting System, and The Weather Channel Companies — a portfolio that spans media, technology, financial services, and sport.
Chang will not be stepping away entirely. She will remain with Coca-Cola through the end of 2026 in a senior advisory capacity, ensuring continuity during the transition period, and will join the board of The Coca-Cola Foundation — a role that allows her to contribute to the company’s philanthropic mission beyond her executive tenure. She also serves on the board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and has previously served on the boards of Frontier Communications, Catalyst Inc., and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.
What distinguishes this leadership handover is the degree of institutional knowledge Chandele brings to the role. Having worked within Chang’s leadership team, having navigated Coca-Cola’s internal structures across multiple functions and geographies, and having spent over two decades embedded in the company’s culture, she does not arrive as an outsider imposing a new vision — she arrives as a steward of an evolving one.
For a company that operates in virtually every corner of the world, the appointment of a chief people officer who has herself lived and worked across India, Türkiye, South Africa, and the United States carries symbolic as much as strategic weight.
Tapaswee Chandele assumed the role of global chief people officer at The Coca-Cola Company on May 1, reporting to CEO Henrique Braun.