KLAY, India's leading early childhood education and care provider, has announced the appointment of Abhishek Joshi as its new Chief Executive Officer. Joshi, a seasoned leader known for building some of India's most trusted consumer brands, takes charge at a pivotal moment when early childhood education is gaining prominence in India's national education agenda.
Mandate and Ambition
Joshi's mandate is clear: to establish KLAY as the definitive early childhood ecosystem in India. He aims to deepen the brand's integrated proposition across learning, care, and parenting partnership, while widening access to high-quality early education for families nationwide. The goal is not incremental growth but to set the standard for early childhood education in India.
This ambition is rooted in a well-established scientific fact: nearly 90% of a child's brain develops before the age of six. The curiosity, confidence, and character formed during these early years shape everything that follows. KLAY believes that getting the early years right is not merely childcare but the foundation for life.
Leadership Experience
Abhishek Joshi 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). His track record includes 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.
Joshi 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.
Industry Context
Commenting on the appointment, Sandeep Reddy, Chairman of 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 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."
About KLAY
KLAY is India's leading chain of preschools and daycare centres, trusted by over 80,000 families. Founded in 2011, KLAY creates safe, nurturing, and engaging environments where children learn and grow, supported by passionate facilitators, modern infrastructure, and a proven pedagogy. As a trusted parenting partner to leading Fortune 500 organisations, KLAY brings together learning, care, and family support into a single, integrated proposition. The institution operates 180+ self-managed centres across 20+ cities in India, backed by 500+ corporate partnerships and a workforce of 3,500+ dedicated professionals.
