The Daily Corporate Desk
Dhaka, 30 September 2026: Khandaker Ishtiak Ahmed has been redesignated as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ACI PLC’s Wellness & Hygiene business, marking the latest milestone in a career that has evolved across marketing, consumer insights, strategic planning and business leadership.
With around two decades of professional experience spanning local and multinational companies, Ishtiak has spent a significant part of his career in the consumer goods industry. At ACI, he has played a central role in developing and expanding the company’s hygiene products business, building on his earlier experience in marketing, brand development and consumer understanding.
In his new role, he is expected to focus on expanding ACI’s presence in the consumer wellness and hygiene market, while strengthening the business across growth, innovation, market development and execution.
A career built across marketing, insights and strategy
Ishtiak’s professional journey reflects a progression through several disciplines that eventually converged into business leadership.
Before joining ACI, he gained experience across media, consumer insights and strategic planning, including professional engagements with organisations such as Maxus, MEC, Nestlé and Reckitt Benckiser. He also worked at New Zealand Dairy Products (BD) Ltd., where he handled brand responsibilities as a Product Group Manager and worked with multiple brand teams.
That mix of exposure gave him experience beyond conventional brand marketing—covering consumer behaviour, communications, strategic thinking and commercial decision-making.
He holds a BBA in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration, Jahangirnagar University.
A decade at ACI, from product leadership to business direction
Ishtiak joined ACI PLC in 2016, beginning a journey that has now extended to a full decade. His own recent reflection on the milestone described the period as a journey shaped by challenges, mistakes, learning and continuous adaptation.
At ACI, he progressed through roles including Business Manager and Business Director, with his responsibilities expanding alongside the hygiene business. Public professional information identifies him as Business Director of ACI Hygiene Products from September 2016, with responsibility spanning the broader business value chain.
His earlier years within the business were closely associated with ACI’s hygiene portfolio. In 2017, ACI identified him as a Product Group Manager during the launch of Savlon Twinkle Baby Diaper. By 2018, he was serving as Marketing Manager of ACI Hygiene Products, including during the launch of Freedom Teens and initiatives focused on women’s health and hygiene awareness.
The progression illustrates how his role evolved from individual product and marketing responsibilities toward broader commercial and business leadership.
Helping shape ACI’s hygiene portfolio
Over the years, Ishtiak has been involved in the development of ACI’s hygiene business at several important stages.
ACI’s hygiene portfolio includes brands such as Freedom, Savlon Twinkle and Respect, covering categories including feminine care, baby care and adult care. The company’s Freedom business has also been associated with initiatives around women’s health and awareness.
His public professional record also shows direct involvement in brand initiatives under the Freedom portfolio, including the launch of new products and consumer-focused programmes. He authored and was involved in communications around initiatives such as Freedom Antibacterial Intimate Wash and Freedom Hair Removal Cream, as well as Freedom’s campaigns recognising women’s achievements.
In 2025, he was also among the senior ACI officials present when the company’s Hygiene Products Factory received ISO 9001:2015 certification from the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI). The facility manufactures products including Twinkle Baby Diaper and Freedom Sanitary Napkin.
The certification represented a broader emphasis on quality management, operational standards and product consistency within ACI’s hygiene operations.
Leadership shaped by a changing consumer market
More recently, Ishtiak has publicly emphasised the need for continuous learning and organisational adaptability.
In a message to his ACI Hygiene team at the beginning of 2026, he highlighted changing competitive conditions and argued that the methods that delivered success in one year would not necessarily be enough for the next. He stressed the importance of continuous upskilling, modernising work processes and becoming more agile as technology and competition evolve.
His comments reflect a broader shift taking place across consumer businesses, where traditional brand building is increasingly being combined with data, technology, changing consumer expectations and faster execution.
From hygiene products to wellness
The redesignation as COO places Ishtiak at the helm of a broader Wellness & Hygiene business at a time when the consumer health and personal-care landscape is becoming increasingly competitive.
His new mandate is not simply an extension of a marketing function. The COO role brings a wider operational and commercial focus, with the stated objective of scaling ACI’s footprint in consumer wellness and hygiene.
That evolution mirrors his own professional path—from understanding consumers and building brands to taking responsibility for a business as a whole.
A leadership journey built from the market upward
Ishtiak’s career is notable for the breadth of experiences that preceded his current role. His early exposure to media and consumer insights was followed by work with multinational consumer companies, then progressively broader responsibilities within ACI’s hygiene business.
That path has given him exposure to several layers of the consumer business: consumer understanding, communication, brand development, product management, marketing, commercial execution and business leadership.
His move into the COO role therefore represents not a sudden change in direction, but the latest step in a career that has gradually expanded from individual brands and marketing functions to broader business responsibility.
As ACI looks to strengthen its position in wellness and hygiene, Ishtiak will now be responsible for translating that experience into the next phase of growth—scaling the business while responding to changing consumer needs, market competition and the evolving demands of Bangladesh’s consumer economy.
Source: ACI PLC, Khandaker Ishtiak Ahmed’s public professional profile, ACI corporate announcements,
