upGrad has elevated Koell Hemdev to General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer, expanding her leadership mandate to bring the company’s legal, people and governance functions under a single leadership framework.
Hemdev joined upGrad in 2017 and has spent the past nine years leading its legal function. During this period, she has been involved in building the legal function and supporting the organisation through multiple phases of growth and complex business developments. Her expanded mandate will now see her take responsibility for both the company’s legal and people agendas.
Her elevation brings the legal and human resources functions together under one leadership role. As General Counsel and CHRO, Hemdev will oversee the HR charter while continuing to lead the legal function. The expanded responsibility places people strategy and governance within the same leadership framework as the company continues to build its organisational foundations for growth.
The development also adds a new dimension to Hemdev’s role at upGrad, with the company looking to strengthen the connection between governance, people strategy and organisational culture. Her responsibilities will extend beyond the legal function to include the broader people agenda, covering the organisation’s approach to culture and people-related priorities.
Hemdev has also been involved in significant corporate transactions during her tenure at upGrad. Recent coverage of the company’s acquisition of Unacademy identified her as General Counsel, CHRO and part of upGrad’s in-house team for the transaction. The legal and corporate work around the acquisition involved multiple areas, including strategy, finance, legal, regulatory, tax, people and operations.
Her recent public activity also highlights her involvement in upGrad’s corporate development initiatives. Following the completion of the Unacademy acquisition, Hemdev described the transaction as a complex process involving months of work across several functions and credited her team and external legal advisers for their role in bringing the deal to completion.
Alongside her expanded people and governance responsibilities, Hemdev will spearhead a new initiative focused on building a stronger community for upGrad’s alumni and prospective learners. The initiative adds an external-facing element to her new mandate while connecting the company’s people and learner ecosystem.
Hemdev’s expanded role reflects upGrad’s approach of bringing people strategy and governance closer together. The company’s current leadership information has historically listed Hemdev in its senior legal leadership, while recent transaction coverage now identifies her as General Counsel and CHRO, reflecting the broader scope of her responsibilities.
Commenting on the change, Hemdev said that upGrad’s “people strategy and governance strategy are now built by the same team, from the same playbook.” The statement captures the central focus of her expanded mandate, which combines governance responsibilities with people and organisational priorities.
Going forward, Hemdev’s priorities will include strengthening upGrad’s people, culture and governance foundations to support sustainable scale. Her elevation marks an expansion of the leadership responsibilities she has held since joining the company in 2017 and places legal, people and governance under one senior leadership mandate.
