Cab-hailing service Ola on Monday appointed former PepsiCo executive Vishal Kaul as its chief operating officer. Pranay Jivrajka, who has been holding the position till now, has been promoted to the post of founding partner, the company said in a statement.

Kaul said he was looking forward to join Ola as company had redefined “the mobility experience in every way for Indians”. Kaul started his career with PepsiCo in 1999 and was until recently the general manager of PepsiCo Foods for Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. At Ola, Kaul will head the cab aggregator’s operations, strengthen its market leadership and expand its reach in the country.

“He [Kaul] is a passionate and experienced business leader with a demonstrated ability to drive business towards growth and profitability,” the company’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, said.

Agarwal said Jivrajka had been part of the company since inception. “Over the past 6-8 months Pranay [Jivrajka] has been working with me closely on many key strategic initiatives,” he said.

Ola, an Indian cab aggregator founded by Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, is the only arch rival of the California-based Uber in the country.