The leadership ambiguity at Axis Bank finally came to an end after the firm extends Shikha Sharma’s tenure as a CEO and MD for another three years.  Her current term was set to end next year in June 2018. However, with this news, her tenure will now stretch to June 2021.

Earlier there were many speculations around Sharma leaving the bank and moving to join Tata Group or Bajaj Finserv. However, Sharma slammed all these reports. According to a media report, the bank board selected executive search firm, Egon Zehnder, to choose a CEO. 

After succeeding PJ Nayak, Sharma acquired Enam Group’s investment and broking business, propelling Axis to the top position in equities advisory and mergers and acquisitions. Recently, she successfully led the acquisition of Freecharge for Rs.385 crore. 

Under Sharma’s leadership, Axis Bank has received many awards particularly, 'Bank of the Year in India' for the year 2014 by The Banker Magazine, Financial Times. The Bank was conferred with the Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Corporate Governance by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), for the year 2015. It was ranked No. 1 company to work for in the BFSI sector - 'The Best Companies to Work for' survey by Business Today in 2013. As an acknowledgment of her efforts, Harvard Business School published a case study on Managing Change at Axis Bank in 2013.