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Meet Karthik Varatharaj, the Global VP and HR Business Partner for Product, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Beyond Yoga at Levi Strauss and Co., and now a member of the newly launched HR Grapevine Editorial Advisory Board!
Prior to this role, Karthik was the Chief Talent Officer at Levi Strauss & Co. for over two years. In the role, Karthik was responsible for leading the company’s end-to-end talent agenda, including talent acquisition, learning and development, leadership, performance and succession management, and employee listening.
Karthik has over 20 years of experience in People, Culture, and Org Transformation at global brands such as Nike, Walmart, Deloitte, and Korn/Ferry. He is known as a thought leader and strong collaborator with the ability to establish relationships at all levels and geographies throughout organizations and cross-functionally.
Read on for our full interview with Karthik, including his ultimate career advice for HR professionals, his sources of inspiration as a people leader, and a music recommendation to soundtrack your weekend!
Can you share a quick overview of your current role and why HR is so important to Levi Strauss & Co.?
I’m a senior HR Business Partner at Levi Strauss & Co., supporting over 5000+ employees in our global brand and supply chain organizations. Prior to this, I was the Chief Talent Officer for the company.
HR is at the heart of the transformation we are driving as a DTC-first and center of culture denim lifestyle retailer - from rewiring how work gets done, to leveraging people insights to guide financial and business decisions, to standing up right organizational structure and roles to fuel innovation and performance, and to ensuring we have the right talent to unlock capabilities that will help us win with our consumers and fans
What’s one lesson from your career that you’d pass on to a younger HR professional?
Stay curious and be willing to take chances early in your career. Growth is not a linear journey - be open to experimentation and new experiences.
AI aside… is there any key work-related trend, issue, or impact you’re preparing for ahead of 2026 and beyond?
In an incredibly VUCA world, building resiliency and adaptiveness in our culture and workforce, to help us stay agile, responsive, and relevant with our customers.
Who or what is your biggest inspiration from outside of the HR world?
I’m a huge nerd for fiction and am frequently inspired by the creativity, empathy, and deeper exploration of what makes us human from the works of authors such as Ocean Vuong, Zadie Smith, and Barbara Kingsolver.
Karthik Varatharaj shares his music recommendation
Can you recommend a music album for our readers to unwind to?
I love anything from Beyonce! Especially Cowboy Carter.
What is the HR Grapevine Editorial Advisory Board?
In case you’ve missed our updates, we’ve recently launched the HR Grapevine Editorial Advisory Board!
The Editorial Advisory Board will be a vital part of HR Grapevine's ongoing commitment to provide its audience of over 290,000 HR professionals with outstanding, industry-recognised content, packed with practical guidance and insights.
From rigorous, high-quality journalism to in-depth articles, interviews, case studies, podcasts, and events, the voices of HR practitioners are at the heart of HR Grapevine's editorial output - and we're thrilled to be taking this step to ensure our content continues to be as timely, relevant, and useful as possible to the industry.
Our Editorial Advisory Board is formed of a deeply experienced group of HR and people professionals who come from a range of different disciplines and backgrounds, but with one thing in common: a dedication to helping the wider HR community learn, grow, and celebrate together.
About Karthik Varatharaj
Karthik Varatharaj is the Global VP and HR Business Partner for Product, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Beyond Yoga at Levi Strauss and Co. Before this, Karthik was the Chief Talent Officer at Levi Strauss & Co. for over two years. In this role, Karthik was responsible for leading the company’s end-to-end talent agenda, including talent acquisition, learning and development, leadership, performance and succession management, and employee listening. Karthik has over 20 years of experience in People, Culture, and Org Transformation at global brands such as Nike, Walmart, Deloitte, and Korn/Ferry. He is known as a thought leader and strong collaborator with the ability to establish relationships at all levels and geographies throughout organizations and cross-functionally.
Karthik has lived and worked all around the world, including the UK, the Middle East, and India. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Madras University. He resides in Portland, Oregon, with his husband, David, their five-year-old daughter Aliyya, and 1.5-year-old son Ezra.
