Parag Kulkarni, MD of AO Smith, Is Promoted As Senior Vice President Of Global Business

The US-based water technology company AO Smith has promoted Parag Kulkarni, Managing Director of AO Smith India Water Products, to Senior Vice President of its international business, expanding his scope of responsibility. The corporation announced in a statement that the new leadership will start on September 1, 2022. Parag Kulkarni's new position will see him continue to hold the position of President of the India company while also overseeing the foreign business units in Europe, Turkey, and Vietnam. After serving in a number of executive positions with various manufacturers, he joined AO Smith in 2015.

 “Parag has been critical to the success of establishing the AO Smith brand in India as an industry leader in the consumer durable space and helped us launch our water purifier business in India. He has played a key role in establishing the company’s position as a premium, innovative brand for water heaters and water purifiers and will bring extensive global experience to this new, expanded role,” said Kevin Wheeler, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of AO Smith Corporation. 

According to Parag Kulkarni,“My focus in this new role will be to continue to innovate by bringing high-quality water technology solutions to our customers and growing the business in these international markets with support from our locally focused business teams.”

According to a media source, the publicly traded company AO Smith has been struggling with rising raw material prices and supply-chain issues. According to a  report, these factors caused the company's cost of sales to rise 24.4% year over year in the first half of 2022.