Rahul Kadavakolu is Executive Director of the Global Marketing Supervisory Department at Rakuten, Inc. He joined Rakuten in 2016 to help lead and drive Rakuten’s global brand and marketing function including all sports and entertainment partnerships.

He has been instrumental in Rakuten signing the global sports and entertainment-led partnerships with FC Barcelona, Golden State Warriors, NBA, Spartan Race and Davis Cup to name a few, as well as the multi-continental sponsorship of Messi10, a global show by Cirque du Soleil.

He also led the charter of signing top sports athletes like Stephen Curry, Andrés Iniesta and Lukas Podolski as Rakuten’s Brand Ambassadors including creating a strong association with Stephen Curry’s recently launched ‘Underrated Tour’ that brings to life Rakuten’s brand promise of ‘Optimism’ and ‘Empowerment’.

Rahul has over 18 years of global marketing and branding experience across various industries with a focus on the IT, internet services and technology sectors. Prior to Rakuten, he held leadership roles at Wipro, Ogilvy and Hakuhodo. He received a Bachelor’s in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai, India and is an avid cricket fan.