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Indian-origin global advertising leader Nirvik Singh has been appointed as an Independent Director on the Board of Gulf Oil for a five-year term, effective from 6 February 2025 to 5 February 2030. His appointment, previously announced on 6 February 2025, is subject to shareholder approval.

The Board of Directors state that Singh’s extensive experience in marketing, corporate governance, risk management, and compliance makes him a valuable addition. With over 35 years in the advertising and marketing industry, he has played a key role in shaping global brands and driving business transformation.

Singh previously served as Global Chief Operating Officer and President of International Markets at Grey Group, overseeing operations across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. He has also led multiple acquisitions in China, India, South Korea, the UAE, the UK, and South Africa, covering sectors such as e-commerce, data analytics, and marketing technology.

Beginning his career at Lipton India, a Unilever company, Singh transitioned into advertising, becoming CEO of Grey Group India at 33 and later leading its expansion into South Asia. His leadership journey took him to Singapore, where he was appointed Chairman and CEO of Grey Asia-Pacific in 2010 before assuming his global role in 2019.

Gulf Oil’s Board expects Singh’s strategic insights and independent perspective to support the company’s growth and adaptability in an evolving market.

Nirvik Singh appointed as Independent Director at Gulf Oil

Firebolt, the Data Warehouse for AI applications, today announced the appointment of Sandeep Mathur as the Managing Director, APAC. In this role, Mathur will drive Firebolt’s growth strategy in APAC, lead regional go-to-market (GTM) efforts, and collaborate with Firebolt’s leadership to build global teams—including support, sales development, and engineering—based in India.

With over 25 years of leadership experience in the technology industry, Sandeep brings a deep understanding of enterprise data and analytics. Prior to joining Firebolt, he held leadership roles at Lentra, Oracle, among others, where he was instrumental in driving business expansion, strategic sales and fostering innovation in technology and data analytics solutions. With his appointment, Firebolt will focus on expanding its footprint in key verticals like financial services, e-commerce, and technology, where real-time analytics and lightning-fast performance are critical. 

Eldad Farkash, co-founder & CEO of Firebolt, commented on the appointment: “Sandeep Mathur's appointment marks a pivotal moment for Firebolt. His deep understanding of the APAC market, combined with his strategic expertise, will be instrumental as we empower APAC enterprises with a new generation of high-performance analytics, expand partner ecosystems and enhance customer education initiatives that redefine speed, scale, and efficiency.”

Hemanth Vedagarbha, president, Firebolt, said, "We are thrilled to have Sandeep Mathur at Firebolt. His deep expertise in scaling high-growth technology businesses and driving customer success in the region makes him an invaluable addition to our leadership team. As Firebolt continues to redefine cloud data analytics with unmatched speed and efficiency, Sandeep’s leadership will play a crucial role in expanding our presence and delivering exceptional value to enterprises across APAC."

Expressing enthusiasm for his new role, Sandeep Mathur, Managing Director, APAC, Firebolt, stated “Innovation and technology are transforming how businesses in APAC operate. Joining Firebolt at such a pivotal time in the data and analytics landscape, I look forward to helping businesses achieve unmatched performance and efficiency. Firebolt’s innovative approach to cloud data warehousing is setting new benchmarks in performance and cost efficiency. My focus will be on collaborating with enterprises and fast-growing startups across APAC to optimize their cloud data infrastructures and maximize their performance-to-cost ratio. I look forward to partnering with our talented team and stakeholders to help organizations in the region unlock the full potential of their data.”

The APAC region is witnessing a massive shift toward data democratization, AI-powered analytics, and cost-optimized cloud solutions. Firebolt is well-positioned to help businesses achieve unmatched performance and efficiency in data analytics. Sandeep’s appointment underscores Firebolt’s commitment to expanding its global footprint and delivering best-in-class analytics solutions to enterprises worldwide.


Firebolt expands into APAC with Sandeep Mathur as Managing Director

Chief Marketing Officer of TATA Motors (passenger vehicles), Vinay Pant has moved out of the organization after two years. Industry sources have confirmed the development to Storyboard18. Tata Motors did not respond to calls and messages. Tata Motors is undergoing multiple changes in the organization and at the agency level. 

Pant was associated with Maruti Suzuki for 15 years starting 2007, heading consumer analytics. At Maruti Suzuki, he also served as Head of Marketing and later as Senior VP for True Value.

He worked with Hero MotoCorp as a strategic planner in 1996 and was also a part of Reckitt Benckiser for three years. Pant is an alumni of BITS Pilani. 

He was also associated with TNS, IMRB International and GFK.  

Tata Motors PVs CMO Vinay Pant quits amidst multiple rejigs at the auto major

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), announced a key change to its Management Committee. Arun Neelakantan (43), chief digital officer, HUL will be appointed as executive director, customer development, HUL effective July 1st, 2024. He will be taking over from Kedar Lele, who will be pursuing an external opportunity.

 
Neelakantan started his career with HUL as Key Account Manager in Modern Trade in 2006 after completing his Bachelor’s Degree from IIT Madras, Master’s from Penn State University, followed by an MBA from Indian School of Business (ISB). He has a proven track record of performance at HUL and has led large teams and change agenda in Customer Development and Marketing, across General Trade, Modern Trade, Customer Marketing and Brand Building. 


In his role as Regional Manager, leading the company’s largest branch in Chennai, Neelakantan was able to deliver market-beating growth consistently. Under his leadership, the South region went on to launch several path-breaking initiatives for Customer Development in India, backed by deep consumer insights and execution excellence in the market. He has played a key role in accelerating HUL’s digital transformation programme across consumer, customer and operations ecosystems and has strengthened data and digital capabilities for category and eCommerce teams. 
 

Rohit Jawa, CEO and Managing Director, HUL said, “Arun has a proven track record in various roles across the organisation. With his deep understanding of the customer development landscape in the country, coupled with his knowledge of channels of the future and expertise in data and technology, I am sure he will help take HUL Customer Development and Sales to greater heights.”

 

Jawa also thanked Kedar for his contribution to the business and said, “It was Kedar who spearheaded HUL’s foray into eCommerce. Under his leadership, our pioneering eB2B app Shikhar was scaled up and it now covers over a million retailers across the country. I would like to thank him for the lasting contributions he has made to HUL over his 20-year long journey with us.”


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/women-of-hul-from-leena-nair-to-prabha-narasimhan-hindustan-unilever-has-created-iconic-female-leaders-33360.htm">Women of HUL: From Leena Nair to Prabha Narasimhan, Hindustan Unilever has created iconic female leaders</a>

HUL's chief digital officer Arun Neelakantan to take over as executive director, customer development

The tale of Indian executives taking over global CEO positions and running the world's biggest companies is well-known and celebrated. But equally important is the story of top executives who were running multinational companies in other countries returning to India as CEOs and MDs. 

In recent weeks, four such executives have made a move back to their home country after spending time abroad. 

Jagrut Kotecha

Jagrut Kotecha is the newly-announced president and CEO of PepsiCo India. Kotecha will take over from PepsiCo India's current top boss after expat chief Ahmed ElSheikh moves on. Kotecha was PepsiCo's senior vice president and chief commercial officer for AMESA (Africa, Middle East and South Asia regions). Kotecha's extensive experience in the snacks business made him the ideal executive for the job, the food and beverage major accelerates its snacks business. Kotecha is an experienced sales, brand and Country Manager with end-to-end P&L responsibility. He is a commercial digital transformation and business transformation leader with experience in markets across Asia, Middle East and Africa. In 2018, when Kotecha was vice president for PepsiCo India’s snacking category, he oversaw the innovations and transformations of Lay's and Kurkure to make them better suit Indian tastes and preferences. He also led the launch of India-made Doritos in 2017.

Kotecha started his career in 1992 with Cadbury and moved to PepsiCo India in sales and marketing in 1994. Kotecha has an MBA from SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and a B.E Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.

Hemant Bakshi

Hemant Bakshi, who led Unilever Indonesia as executive vice president - Unilever marketplace and chairman, joined Ola as chief executive vice officer. Bakshi took over from Bhavish Aggarwal. As the president director of Unilever Indonesia, he was in-charge of its full responsibility. Bakshi recently revealed that he moonlighted as a cab driver by night in Bengaluru to gain a better understanding of customer experience, expectations and service level requirements. Bakshi started his career with Unilever as executive director of sales and customer development. 


Sandeep Kohli

In July 2022, Sandeep Kohli took over Unilever Indonesia as general manager and board member. Now he is set to return to India to lead Aditya Birla Group's jewellery venture as CEO. Kohli, who has more than three decades of experience, began his career at Hindustan Unilever as a sales manager. He rose to become the head of marketing, foods division at Unilever, Philippines. He has held extensive roles in different capacities in countries like London and Singapore as global brand director and vice president, Greater China, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, and a masters in management degree from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS).


Nikhil Sharma

Nikhil Sharma is new managing director of Italian confectionery major Perfetti Van Melle's India operations. Sharma was previously the managing director for Perfetti Van Melle’s Philippines and Vietnam branch. His journey began with Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) in 1999 as a Management Trainee, serving various roles in Sales and Marketing. He was heading the Marketing function in 2012. From 2015 he moved to General Management and went overseas to head PVM Philippines, followed by being appointed the Managing Director of PVM Vietnam. During his previous stint in India, under his leadership, PVM launched several successful campaigns - Alpenliebe Kajol and the Crocodile, re-launch of Big Babol ads, Chlormint Salman Khan campaign 'Dobara mat poochna' and Lollipops – Lagey Raho. Starting February 2024, he will be running the India business as Managing Director, leveraging his global experience on Perfetti's Indian chapter.

Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/quantum-brief/hul-meet-the-leaders-who-have-emerged-from-the-ceo-factory-21397.htm">HUL: Meet the leaders who have emerged from "The CEO Factory"</a>

Meet the Indian marketers returning home from global markets to take up CEO positions

Hemant Bakshi, the recently appointed CEO of OLA cabs has revealed that he moonlights as a cab driver by night in Bengaluru to gain better understanding of customer experience, expectations and service level requirements. 

A former Unilever Indonesia chairperson, and executive vice president of the Marketplace, Bakshi has been appointed CEO of Ola Cabs, the ride-hailing arm of ANI Technologies. The company is reorganised into three units - ride hailing and mobility, financial services, and logistics and e-commerce. Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has stepped down from the role as the company streamlines operations. 

Bhavish Aggarwal, the former CEO, has stepped back as part of the company's efforts to streamline operations. Bakshi, who served as the executive vice president at Unilever and chaired Unilever Indonesia, recently joined Ola after returning to India four months ago.

Bakshi, who is piloting the ride hailing operations, emphasised on the value of first-hand experience. Perhaps this is the reason behind his experiment of driving his car around the city at night, moonlighting as an OLA cab driver. 

During a media briefing on January 25, Bakshi stated that he offers ride-hailing service at night to gain firsthand experience and better understanding of customer requirements. 

Bakshi is not the first CEO of a mobility platform to moonlight as a driver. To understand the challenges faced by drivers amid the pandemic, Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi revealed his experience to go undercover as a driver for several months. This experiment prompted him to critically reassess every assumption made by the company. Over the next few months, the Uber CEO wheeled numerous passengers across San Francisco. In April 2023, he told The Wall Street Journal that, the experience of working incognito as an Uber driver and delivery agent helped him to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by delivery partners and implement strategies to resolve their issues more effectively. 

Meanwhile, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal has stated that he will remain “fully involved” with the business. At the media briefing on Thursday he mentioned, “There is a partnership between Hemant and I. He brings the strategy and operations, while I am the proverbial entrepreneur, thinking about newer ideas and innovating,”. 

Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/unilevers-hemant-bakshi-joins-ola-as-chief-executive-officer-21136.htm">Unilever’s Hemant Bakshi joins Ola as chief executive officer</a>

OLA Cabs CEO Hemant Bakshi moonlighting as a cab driver to understand customer expectations

Parag Desai, executive director at Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers Limited, known for its Wagh Bakri brand of tea, passed away at the age of 49, last week. Desai suffered a head injury after a "freak accident", as per reports.

Desai led the transformation of Wagh Bakri Tea Group with forays into areas like tea lounges, e-commerce, digital and social media. A fourth-generation entrepreneur of the premium tea copany, Desai held a masters in business administration (MBA) Long Island University, he spearheaded international business, sales and marketing of the Group.


He was active on industry platforms such as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and international organisations.

Wagh Bakri’s executive director Parag Desai dies; Desai was a 4th gen entrepreneur

Infectious Advertising has roped in Siddhartha Singh as managing partner and chief operating officer. Singh has returned to advertising after a two-year stint on the client side – as director, marketing and sales at Independence Brewing Company. 
 
An alumnus of INSEAD, Singh comes with over twenty-six years of experience - in multinational agencies such as Leo Burnett, Ambience Publicis, Rediffusion, and with boutique agencies like Salt Brand Solutions, Famous Innovations and Hyphen. 
 
Commenting on the development, managing partner and CEO of Infectious Advertising, Nisha Singhania said, "We've come a long way in the last ten years. Today, we are a sixty-five-member, digital-first agency for some of India's biggest names – UltraTech Cement, Bayer Crop Sciences, IDFC, and Tata Group, to name just a few. Traditional agencies don't get 'Digital' and digital agencies don't understand 'Brands'.  We are unique because we can build brands and create content for a digital-first marketplace. Hiring Siddhartha is a growth hack." 
 
Ramanuj Shastry, managing partner and creative chairman of Infectious Advertising, added, "As someone who has worked with Siddhartha before, I can vouch that Sid is loved by both clients and creatives - largely because he belongs to that rare breed of suits who can both 'sell great work' and know 'what keeps the client awake at night. He makes for a fantastic colleague and a great boss. I am delighted to have him as a partner."  
 
On his new Singh said, "When Nisha and Ramanuj shared their vision for Infectious, I immediately agreed to partner with them. My primary responsibility will be to create the perfect ecosystem for the seamless delivery of solutions for businesses. Whether born in the old economy or the new, companies today are looking for partners to achieve transformational growth. I believe the time is just right for Infectious."   
 
 


Infectious Advertising gets Siddhartha Singh as managing partner and chief operating officer

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on Thursday announced that NS Rajan, director, August One Partners LLP, has been unanimously elected as chairman of the board of governors of the industry’s self-regulator. The decision was made at the board meeting following the 36th annual general meeting of ASCI. He replaces Subhash Kamath who has served the industry watchdog for two-years in the role.

At the meeting, Saugata Gupta, managing director & CEO, Marico Limited, was elected vice-chairman, while Shashidhar Sinha, chief executive officer at IPG Mediabrands India, was appointed honorary treasurer.

Subhash Kamath, the outgoing chairman, will now be a part of the Consultative Committee of the board, which, among other activities, mentors the new initiatives of the organisation. Virat Tandon, group CEO of Lintas India, and Arun Srinivas, director, GMS India (Meta), were newly inducted onto the board at the same meeting.

Talking about his new role Rajan says, “I am looking forward to advancing the agenda of the Council to rapidly increase ASCI awareness among consumers so that they engage more readily and in greater numbers, voicing their concerns, anxieties, and questions about what they experience in the form of thousands of ads per day. That number, on average, in India is anywhere between 7000-10000 ads per day,”

He further adds that his key focus will be taking forward ASCI’s efforts more towards prevention, in addition to the robust corrective mechanisms that have been built over the decades. 

“The third pillar would be to keep ahead of the fast-expanding and fractionalising digital domain to ensure that responsible advertising principles are followed equally across all media and consumer engagements by advertising in every form,” Rajan notes.

Rajan is a public relations (PR) veteran. He was earlier the founder and managing director of Ketchum Sampark, an Omnicom Group Company.

A key initiative announced at the AGM by the outgoing Chairman, Subhash Kamath was the soon-to-be-launched ASCI Academy. The academy ASCI says will work in the direction of training and awareness creation, and deep engagement with various stakeholders in the prevention of objectionable ads.

Speaking about his two-term tenure as ASCI chairman, Kamath says, “Our vision of making ASCI more future-ready by taking on the challenges of a digital world and a fast-changing communication landscape, and by adding value to the industry through more agility, responsiveness, services, and thought leadership, has started showing results. I’m sure ASCI will continue to grow from strength to strength in the coming years.”

CXO