Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, has appointed Deeptha Khanna as the chief business leader of its Personal Health businesses and Edwin Paalvast as chief of International Markets. Khanna and Paalvast will become members of Philips’ Executive Committee reporting to Philips CEO Frans van Houten.
 
Khanna joins Philips from Johnson & Johnson to lead its Personal Health businesses that were temporarily led by Frans van Houten. Paalvast joins Philips from Cisco Systems, and will succeed current chief of International Markets Henk de Jong, who has been appointed as CEO of Philips’ 2.3 billion-euros Domestic Appliances business. As announced in January, the Domestic Appliances business is being separated from Philips, a process that is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.
 
“Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, our purpose and strategy to improve people’s lives through meaningful innovation remain more relevant than ever,” said van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. “We see significant opportunities to further strengthen Philips’ leadership in health technology. Throughout our markets, care delivery is accelerating towards telehealth, virtual care and remote services directly to patients at home. And in the personal health domain, we are seeing an accelerated shift in priorities and buying behaviors towards online. I am pleased that in Deeptha, with her rich consumer health and digital experience, and Edwin, with his strong informatics and solutions expertise, we have found the right leaders to join our team and help us unlock Philips’ full potential. Moreover, with the planned divestiture of the Domestic Appliances business, we are completing the strategic portfolio pivot to a health technology focus. I am convinced that Henk is the best leader for Domestic Appliances, as this business will embark on a new chapter in its journey to thrive and grow independent of Philips. As a seasoned business leader, Henk possesses a great combination of deep consumer knowledge across many countries, as well as a passion for bringing out the best in his team.”
 
Khanna most recently was the global president of Johnson & Johnson’s Skin Health business and Office of Marketing Value. Through 2015–2019, she held various leadership positions in Asia and globally, during which she successfully drove a comprehensive transformation of the Baby Care portfolio. Prior to this, Khanna spent 17 years at Procter & Gamble in Asia, where she held various leadership positions in marketing.

Khanna earned a bachelor of science degree in statistics, mathematics and computer science, and a post-graduate diploma in management.
 
Paalvast joins Philips from Cisco Systems, where he was senior vice president, Global Specialists, leading a global sales force in specialist areas, including the Internet of Things (IoT), networking, data center, cloud, collaboration, cybersecurity and services. Prior to that, he held a variety of senior roles, including that of president of Cisco Systems EMEA. He started his career in 1986 at TNO, the Dutch Institute for Applied Research, where he led research on high-performance computing and applied computer science. He earned two master's degrees in computer science and mathematics, and a Ph.D. in computer science and physics.
 
Henk de Jong joined Philips in 1990, and after holding various business roles in floor care, coffee and kitchen appliances, and leading Philips’ former Consumer Lifestyle sector in Europe and Asia, he successfully led Philips’ Latin American market for five years. He has subsequently led Philips’ international markets since 2017, delivering consistent year-on-year profitable growth and market share gains. In his new role as CEO of Philips Domestic Appliances, De Jong will gradually assume end-to-end management responsibility in line with the design and timeline of the carve out process. He will continue to report to Frans van Houten, and remain a member of the Executive Committee.