Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, November 2025 — Ankita Kokas has begun a new chapter in her professional journey as Director Talent Acquisition at JioHotstar, taking on a pivotal leadership role in driving the organisation’s hiring strategy across Product, Design, Analytics, Program Management and the CTO’s Office. In this role, she partners closely with senior leadership to attract exceptional talent that will strengthen JioHotstar’s innovation and technology vision.
Before stepping into her new mandate, Ankita served as Talent Acquisition Manager – Product, Analytics, Design and CTO’s Office at JioStar, the joint venture between Viacom18 and Star India which powers JioHotstar. She was responsible for end-to-end hiring across high-impact functions, helping shape teams that solve for massive scale, complex user journeys and cutting-edge content delivery. Her leadership contributed directly to organisational capability building and business continuity during a period of accelerated growth.
Prior to this, Ankita spent over four years at Disney+ Hotstar as Talent Acquisition Manager – Engineering, Product & Design, where she played a strategic advisory role to Engineering, Product Management and Design teams. She collaborated closely with the CTO’s Office to build technical capabilities, supported the Subscriptions & Payments function, strengthened product excellence, and improved interviewer and candidate experience journeys. Her work in creating interview frameworks, standardising job descriptions, launching learning programs for the TA community, and implementing interviewer recognition initiatives established her as a data-driven and innovation-oriented TA leader.
Earlier in her career, Ankita worked at ClearTax as Principal Recruiter, where she expanded senior Engineering and Product teams, implemented best-practice recruitment processes, strengthened employer branding and designed automation-led solutions to improve hiring efficiency. Her contributions ensured strong alignment between business goals and talent acquisition outcomes.
Before that, Ankita made a significant impact at Zoomcar as Senior Talent Acquisition Partner, where she independently managed hiring for Engineering, Product, Analytics and Design. She scaled the engineering organisation from 30 to 150 members, built interview best practices, led C-suite and senior hiring, strengthened referral pipelines and ensured seamless management of offers, onboarding and documentation. Her close partnership with founders and senior leadership positioned her as a trusted hiring architect.
Ankita’s foundational experience was built at Wenger & Watson, where she worked as Talent Acquisition Specialist leading executive search for high-growth technology and e-commerce companies such as OYO, Flipkart, Amazon and Hike. She gained strong exposure to leadership hiring, passive candidate sourcing and CXO-level search. She began her HR journey with TAAL Tech India Pvt Ltd as an HR Intern, where she contributed to HR analytics and data-driven insights.
Ankita holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Human Resources Management from the Indian Institute of Planning and Management, Bangalore, where she built the academic foundation for her leadership career in talent acquisition.
About JioHotstar
JioHotstar is one of India’s leading streaming platforms, created through the integration of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. With a vast content library, cutting-edge streaming infrastructure and a focus on accessibility, the platform aims to redefine the entertainment experience for audiences across India by delivering seamless, high-quality content at scale.
Read Also : When HR “Produces Nothing”: A Response to Jennifer Sey’s Anti-HR Vision
The Fine Balance: Navigating Work, Life, and Mental Wellbeing
Mind the Leadership Gap – From Learning to Real-World Impact
How the Adecco Group is empowering its employees for the future of work










