About Us

The Bata Group is a family-owned business, making it possible to provide customers around the world with the best shoes at the best prices, backed by unparalleled service, for over 125 years.

We live the Bata way by improving the life of each community in which we operate. This means supporting our consumers, teams and the community itself, as well as providing opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Our passion is shoes

We love making stand-out footwear our customers can wear to look good and feel good all day long, and always with price tags that impress them too.

Our brands and business

We are organized into three business units: Bata, Bata Industrials (safety shoes) and AW Lab (sports style).

We have a portfolio company with more than 20 brands and labels, such as Bata, North Star, Power, Bubblegummers, Weinbrenner, Sandak or Toughees.

Download Bata Company info sheet

Our values

Our culture is rooted in what Bata stands for. Our company’s success has been built through the values we believe in. Every achievement, every accomplishment, every step forward was powered by the same engine: our core values.

Improving life

At Bata we believe that we are part of each community in which we operate. This means supporting our consumers, teams and the community itself, as well as providing opportunities for personal and professional growth.

As a truly global Group, we work across diverse cultures, and believe that each of these should be respected.
Be bold

Courageous Innovation has always been the cornerstone of our company, from the canvas shoes Tomas Bata proposed when everyone else in Europe was selling leather or wood, to the pioneering expansion to new continents starting in the 1930s
Exceed customer expectations

Bata believes in pushing boundaries, in going the extra mile. We take pride in recognizing and rewarding excellence, promoting a "can do" culture throughout our organization.

This is true of our products, our services and our personnel. We know that different customers have different needs, and it is our aim not only to satisfy but to exceed them, building intrinsic value into every product we make.
Serve with passion

For Bata, the shoe industry has been a lifelong family passion, requiring hard work by a close-knit, determined team, listening to our consumers' needs and understanding how best to satisfy their requests. It is this desire to continue to offer the best products and services that help keep us at the forefront of our industry.
Count on me

Our founder, Tomas Bata, understood that in order to do a job well, we must lead by example. We have never forgotten our founder's words, and today we still hold the same beliefs to be true. The decisions we take are made with our long-term future in mind, not for immediate gain.

Our management

The day-to-day management of the Bata Group is taken care of by our Executive Committee.

Leading by example

As well as being a global brand, we are still a private family business, run by a passionate multicultural leadership team.

Sandeep Kataria

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer

Sandeep Kataria

Sandeep is a business and marketing leader with over 25 years of experience in the consumer products and retail industry across the developing and developed markets.

He joined Bata in 2017 as CEO of Bata India Ltd. In December 2020 Sandeep has been appointed CEO of the Bata Shoe Organization with the main task of transforming the footwear giant into a modern and contemporary brand for generations to come.
Previously he has covered a broad range of leadership roles as Commercial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager in several international companies such as Vodafone India, Yum! Brands and Unilever, in different markets.

Sandeep is an engineer from IIT-Delhi and finished his PGDBM from XLRI in 1993.
While IIT gave him the analytical skills, he believes XLRI was responsible for sparking his interest in Leadership & Marketing making him a lifelong student of consumer behavior and insight!
Gerd Grähsler

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer

Gerd Grähsler

Gerd leads our Finance & ACCOUNTING Function and oversees all financial management aspects for our Company globally. He brings a wealth of expertise gained from his tenure at Safilo Group and PROCTER & GAMBLE, where he specialized in PRODUCT-CENTRIC, global branded consumer and omnichannel companies. Gerd possesses comprehensive Group CFO experience in a fast-paced publicly listed business, characterized by a strong family-owned reference shareholder.

Gerd holds a Master's degree from the VIENNA University of ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.
Marco Agnolin

President, Europe

President, Europe

Marco Agnolin

Based in Padova, Italy, Marco brings a wealth of expertise in fashion retail to his role.

With a remarkable career spanning decades, Marco has made significant contributions to the industry. He played a pivotal role in establishing Inditex in Italy, where he led the expansion of Zara stores from the ground up, eventually overseeing a network of 300 stores with impressive sales figures. Marco's visionary leadership extended to his tenure as Global CEO of Bershka, where he orchestrated a remarkable turnaround, transforming the brand into a profitable cornerstone of the Inditex group.

In addition to his corporate achievements, Marco is also known for his entrepreneurial spirit. He founded ABM (a better mistake), an acclaimed apparel and accessories brand with a presence in major fashion hubs such as Barcelona, Milan, and Berlin.

With his talent, experience, and innovative vision, Marco is poised to bring a fresh perspective to the Bata Group as he leads the Europe Region and contributes to the strategic direction of the Executive Committee.
Faisal Sabzwari

President of Bata Africa-Middle East

President of Bata Africa-Middle East

Faisal Sabzwari

Faisal joined Bata in April 2022 as President of Bata Africa-Middle East. He is responsible for driving business in the African continent by being innovative in business ideas that has led to positive business growth, modernization of manufacturing processes that has ended placing the companies in an advantageous competitive positions.

Faisal comes to Bata with a strong suite of general management, marketing, and sales skills that he has honed in his successful career at Procter & Gamble spanning 20+ years leading up to his last role as Vice-President of the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

He has also had leadership roles in P&G and Dalda Foods in the Middle East, Egypt, and Pakistan.
Gunjan Shah

President, India

President, India

Gunjan Shah

Gunjan joined Bata in July 2021 as President of Bata India. He has extensive experience of working across varied sectors spanning Consumer Durables, Telecom and FMCG.

He brings to the table an innate knack for understanding consumers, passion for action, people development experience and clarity of thought and purpose.

In his previous role, Gunjan was the Chief Commercial Officer at Britannia Industries. He spent the early stages of his career working with brands such as Asian Paints and Motorola before moving on to Britannia in 2007.

Gunjan holds a degree in Technology from the University of Mumbai
Kevin D. Corning

President, Latin America

President, Latin America

Kevin D. Corning

Kevin Corning leads the company´s business in Latin America where Bata has 1,000 stores, 3 factories and over 6,000 employees.

Kevin has over 30 years of general management experience in consumer products companies such as Kraft Foods and Nike. He has extensive experience across the globe having lived and worked in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Prior to joining Bata, Kevin was the EVP of International for Carter´s/OshKosh where he was responsible for all commercial operations outside the US and for executing their global omni-channel strategy. Before starting his business career, Kevin spent 5 years as a US Army officer serving as a helicopter pilot.

He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and currently lives in Santiago, Chile.
Rajeev Gopalakrishnan

President, APAC

President, APAC

Rajeev Gopalakrishnan

Since July 2019 Rajeev took over the position of President of Bata Asia-Pacific region (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, China, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)

Rajeev has previously led the high-growth South Asia’s region for 5 years.

His successful run at Bata started over 26 years ago and covered many key roles in almost every part of the world. This rich experience and passion for his work have benefitted not only the company but also the industry at large.

Rajeev holds a degree in in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kerala.
Barbara Franceschetto

Chief Product Officer

Chief Product Officer

Barbara Franceschetto

Barbara joined Bata 20 years ago and held several lead positions in Sales, Marketing and Product, spending long periods in different countries like Singapore, Chile and Perù, as Country Manager, before becoming Global Product Director.

With a love of shoes in her blood, Barbara’s drive and passion sees her managing a customer-oriented business to make Bata a top-of-mind shoe retailer.
David Lynch

Chief Supply Chain Officer

Chief Supply Chain Officer

David Lynch

David joined Bata as the Chief Supply Chain Officer in 2021 and is responsible for the Bata end-to-end Global Supply Chain Operations. 

David joins us after a long career in various Supply Chain and Sourcing Leadership roles with international Footwear brands including Nike, Clarks, and Columbia Sportswear and others.Having lived and worked all over Asia David brings with him many years of international supply chain & manufacturing experience.

David holds a degree in Statistics and Chinese Language from the University of Minnesota with post graduate studies in the field of Biostatistics.
Andrea Montagnoli

General Manager AW LAB

General Manager AW LAB

Andrea Montagnoli

Andrea, joined the Bata Group in 2017 starting as Head of Product & Merchandising AW LAB. He then took over the leadership of Bata Colombia in 2020. He ably led the team through the Covid crises to emerge with flying colours strengthening our retail, wholesale and FA2A business along with the manufacturing operations in Manizales.

Andrea has been promoted to AW LAB General Manager in 2024.
Luc Valentin

Chief Human Capital Officer

Chief Human Capital Officer

Luc Valentin

Luc joined Bata in December 2018; he is responsible for leading Bata’s Global Human Resources agenda. His career spans over 21 years of experience in Human resources and Business positions in leading groups.

Prior, he was Chief Human Resources Officer at Douglas, the leading premium beauty group in Europe. Luc has covered a large range of leading roles in international Groups from various Industries such as Kering, Gap, L'Oréal, Natixis/CNP.

Broad HR Generalist with strong expertise in Talent Management, Performance Management, Compensation and benefits, Industrial relations and Organization Effectiveness. Highly business oriented with a successful track record.

Luc holds a double master of business and labour Law and is also graduated from INSEAD.
Pietro Schira

Chief Brand Officer

Chief Brand Officer

Pietro Schira

Pietro leads our Marketing Function and is responsible for brand building, consumer marketing, retail marketing, consumer experience & relationship management for all our brands across channels.
He has over 25 years of experience as a Marketing Leader, having worked with renowned Global Sports & Fashion brands , overseeing Marketing functions across various categories and divisions.

Prior to joining Bata, Pietro served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Furla, and previously held prominent global and regional roles at Puma, Nike & Calvin Klein in different Marketing and Product functions and geographies across Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific.

Pietro holds a degree in Business Administration and Marketing
Roger Graell

Chief Digital Officer

Chief Digital Officer

Roger Graell

Roger leads the Digital agenda across the organization, in close collaboration with other functions, regions, and OpCo’s. He develops our FA2A across Bata globally, enhances our digital transformation and looks to boost our retail growth.

Roger brings with him over 20 years of experience in the online Fashion industry.

During his career, he has held E-Commerce leadership positions at various companies, such as Lastminute.com and Redcats Group, where he developed the business for La Redoute, Vertbaudet and EmpireStores, across various European countries, leading him to his last role as Global E-Commerce Director at Mango where he successfully grew the brand online for the last 12 years.

Roger holds an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Statistics and a Management Development Program (PDD) at IESE business school.
Xiaohan Guo

Chief Legal Officer

Chief Legal Officer

Xiaohan Guo

Xiaohan leads our legal function and contribute to the achievement of our Business Strategy. With over 17 years of international experience in both in-house and private practice settings across various global locations, including Paris, Singapore, and London, Xiaohan is well-versed in navigating international and multicultural environments.

Prior to joining Bata, she held the position of VP and Assistant General Counsel at CWT, a business travel management company, where she has over the years led legal teams, and provided legal and compliance business partnership to global business functions such as Finance, Growth, Partnerships, Strategy and Corporate Development.

Xiaohan is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales, and Singapore, and holds a degree of Laws from the National University of Singapore and a diploma on Financial Management from the London school of Business and Finance.