Hires & Promotions: ATC India, VMLY&R, Cheil, Yash Raj Films

VMLY&R India elevates Pooja Jauhari to Group CEO

VMLY&R has named Pooja Jauhari as Chief Executive Officer, VMLY&R India across its group of companies. Based out of VMLY&R’s Mumbai office, she reports to VMLY&R Asia Co-CEO Tripti Lochan, who is based in Singapore.

As CEO VMLY&R India’s group of companies, Pooja Jauhari will oversee the agency’s combined operations, including VMLY&R, The Glitch, VMLY&R Commerce and GTB, across its three offices in India - Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai – plus its service of clients across the Indian subcontinent. She is also tasked with further integration of the network’s creative excellence in India, with its very strong customer experience, commerce and data capabilities, into an integrated powerhouse focused on human centricity, diversity, inclusion & high performance.

Pooja Jauhari takes over from Anil Nair, who is moving on to pursue new opportunities. Anil Nair joined VMLY&R in 2019 from Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi India, where he was CEO (Digital) and Managing Partner.  VMLY&R first welcomed Pooja Jauhari in 2020, as the CEO of The Glitch. One of India’s leading independent creative agencies, The Glitch was acquired by WPP in 2017 and integrated into the VMLY&R network in November 2020.

Having started her marketing career at JWT two decades ago, Pooja Jauhari moved to Unilever and then Worldwide Media before joining creative powerhouse The Glitch in 2013. There, she was instrumental to the agency’s success, leading its strategic planning, plus setting its goals and approach to both business and culture.

Central to this success was Pooja Jauhari’s progressive vision, and her efforts to make The Glitch a genderblind, inclusive and progressive high-performance workspace; producing work that has a positive influence on society via ‘normalising not cause-vetising,’ which saw the agency go from strength to strength.

Now an established part of VMLY&R, The Glitch’s digitally-led creative expertise comprises over 350 talented strategists, technologists, content creators and planners, delivering award-winning work for clients including LinkedIn, Hotstar, Unilever, Diageo, BigBasket, Microsoft, OnePlus, PubG and Coca Cola.

Commenting on the appointment, Tripti Lochan, Co-CEO, VMLY&R Asia said, “Since welcoming The Glitch into the VMLY&R network in 2020, we are seeing that together with VMLY&R India, the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. Pooja’s proven track record of having driven a gender-blind and positive influence approach, aligns perfectly with our ongoing vision towards ever-improving our own inclusivity and progressiveness. Combined with her track record in growing The Glitch to be one of India’s best-known agencies, producing work for clients both nationally and globally, we believe her elevation makes us even better at creating connected brands, driving business for our clients, and positively impacting the communities they live in. We thank Anil for being a part of our continued growth in India, and wish him the very best in the next stage of his journey.”

Emmanuel Upputuru, Chief Creative Officer bids farewell to Cheil India

Emmanuel Upputuru, Chief Creative Officer – Cheil India has decided to move on from the agency to pursue new opportunities. He had joined Cheil India in 2018.  

During his stint at Cheil India, Emmanuel made an important and valuable contribution to the agency. As Chief Creative Officer, he has led some important and impactful campaigns for brands like Samsung, MG Motor, TCS, ITC Agro Business and Adidas India.

Speaking about his announcement, Emmanuel said, “I have decided to leave my position at Cheil India after three-and-half exciting years. It was a really tough decision as I know I am walking away from a goldmine. But I feel satisfied with what we could achieve - being ranked 4th hottest agency for two consecutive years is one thing, but the joy of creating a single integrated creative team, probably the largest in the country, is my big takeaway. I would like to thank the Cheil management for the confidence placed in me to lead their massive creative ship. And how can I not thank Malcolm Poynton for all the support, the interactions and the leadership during my innings here? I am going to miss the GCPC – one of the best Global Creative Councils in the world - the colleagues from around the globe will now stay friends forever. I am leaving behind a team that is future-ready and I am sure there will be more success stories from Cheil India in the coming months and years. I now look ahead restlessly as the industry is opening up so many possibilities.”

With over two decades of experience, Emmanuel is a popular name in the world of creativity. As a celebrated creative head and thought leader, he has spoken at various platforms and also judged international advertising festivals. In his previous stints, he has worked with world’s largest advertising groups – WPP and Publicis. He has won numerous Cannes Lions, One Show pencils, D&AD, AdFest, London International Awards and local wins at Effies and Goa Fest. He has been ranked India’s Hottest Creative by Campaign Brief Asia in 2013-14. He moved to entrepreneurship with his venture ITSA before joining Cheil India.

ATC India Appoints Sandeep Girotra as new India CEO

ATC India, a leading independent passive telecom infrastructure provider, has named Sandeep Girotra as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. He succeeds Ashwini Khillan, who is moving into a new APAC regional leadership role.

Sandeep has over 30 years of experience across various functions within the Telecom and Technology space, having held leadership positions in multiple markets in Asia including India, ASEAN, Japan, Korea, and Australia/New Zealand. He joins ATC India from Sterlite Technologies where, as Chief Sales Officer, he was responsible for steering global growth for the India-headquartered company. Before Sterlite, he was associated with Nokia for 24 years, where for the last 10 years, he held multiple executive roles including Head of India, Head of Asia Pacific & Japan, and Head of Global Sales Transformation. He will move to India from his current location in Singapore. He will be part of a robust APAC leadership team of ATC headed by Sanjay Goel, Executive Vice President & President, Asia Pacific.

Announcing his appointment, Sanjay said, “Sandeep is closely associated with the ICT industry in executive and non-executive roles and has a strong track record of delivering exceptional outcomes across segments of government public sector and enterprises. He is extremely focused on driving customer confidence, strengthening partners connect while creating processes towards building agility in customer interactions and bringing value to them. He has a hands-on approach and likes to create an open and collaborative working environment. We are excited to propel the India business growth under his vision.”

Sandeep adds, “I am excited to take my own experience in the telecom industry and drive a new level of performance alongside the team at ATC. As part of the global telecom infrastructure conglomerate, the growth and pace at which the Company is channelising its strengths and has envisioned itself, is very encouraging. I am honoured to take up this role with ATC India and be part of the team's passion that is making ATC India an ever-evolving global infrastructure provider.”

Sandeep holds a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani.

Akshaye Widhani named CEO of Yash Raj Films

Yash Raj Films (YRF) has named Akshaye Widhani as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He was most recently Senior VP - Finance and Business Affairs and Head of Operations, YRF Studios.

Widhani joined YRF at the age of 22 and has been associated with YRF for 17 years. He has been responsible for setting up and running several business verticals for YRF. Akshaye started his career at YRF as a studio manager, in charge of setting up operations for YRF Studios in 2005. Thereafter, he has gradually taken up leadership roles in corporate finance, strategy and operations.

On his appointment, Widhani says, “I am incredibly honoured and humbled to assume the role of CEO of Yash Raj Films, a company in which I have spent the last 17 years of my life learning. I’m happy that I had a front-row seat as a member of the leadership team at YRF under Yashji and Aditya Chopra during the course of this time. I share their passion and commitment towards innovation, creative excellence, future expansion plans and also giving back to the industry that has supported and made us who we are today. I have been entrusted to collaborate and lead the hugely sharp think-tank at YRF which I believe to be the best that the industry has to offer. I’m looking forward to assuming this responsibility and taking the company to greater heights with the YRF family in the years to come.”