Regeneron, a US-based biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases, has appointed Smita P Pillai, former Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) at Zendesk, as Chief DE&I Officer. Pillai reports to Sally Paull, SVP – Human Resources.
In her new role, Pillai will lead Regeneron’s vision of advancing DE&I through fostering a culture of inclusion, increasing diverse representation and building equity internally and externally. She has a diverse functional experience base working across Asia, the Middle East, Europe & North America.
Most recently, Pillai led global DEI efforts for Zendesk and delivered a global diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and framework. Prior to this, Pillai was Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Dow Jones for 2 years and was responsible for building and executing D&I strategy for all businesses and corporate centres.
Pillai had a stint of 12 years with Johnson & Johnson where she took various leadership positions. In 2016, she was Sr Director – Global Diversity & Inclusion, J&J, before joining Prudential Financial as Vice President – Diversity and Inclusion.
Pillai has completed her BBA from KS School of Business Management and MBA from Symbiosis Institute of International Business.
