Happy Birthday Vishnu Mohan: A career that helped shape advertising across Asia

Mohan's career offers a glimpse into how advertising leadership itself has evolved — from managing media and agency networks to building technology-led businesses

by e4m Staff
Published: Sep 3, 2026 9:43 AM | 2 min read

Vishnu Mohan, celebrating his birthday, reflects on a 30-year career in advertising, focusing on agency leadership, entrepreneurship, technology, and brand building.
Currently, he is the Partner & CEO, Asia Pacific at DEPT®, responsible for expanding the agency's operations in the region, and he founded Avyan Holdings in 2021.
Mohan's extensive experience includes over two decades with Havas and the Vivendi Group, where he held senior leadership roles and contributed to Havas Media's growth in Asia Pacific.
An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, he has engaged with the advertising community on topics like marketing, technology, and AI, showcasing the evolution of advertising leadership.

As Vishnu Mohan celebrates his birthday today, exchange4media looks back at a three-decade journey spanning agency leadership, entrepreneurship, technology and brand building.

For Mohan, the advertising business has been as much about building organisations as it has been about building brands. His career has taken him across markets, disciplines and some of the biggest transformations in the advertising and marketing industry.

Mohan currently serves as Partner & CEO, Asia Pacific at DEPT®, where he is responsible for scaling the international digital agency’s operations across the region. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Avyan Holdings, the venture he established in 2021.

A significant part of Mohan’s career was shaped during his long association with Havas and the Vivendi Group. Over more than two decades with the network, he held several senior leadership positions and played an important role in expanding Havas Media’s presence across Asia Pacific. His responsibilities spanned markets including India, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, along with wider regional mandates.

The experience gave Mohan a front-row view of an industry undergoing continuous reinvention — from the rise of digital media and data-led marketing to the growing influence of artificial intelligence. His career has consequently evolved beyond conventional agency leadership into the intersection of creativity, technology, data and business transformation.

In 2021, Mohan added entrepreneurship to his journey with the launch of Avyan Holdings in Singapore. Conceived as a platform bringing together design, technology and data, Avyan marked a new chapter after his long corporate leadership stint.

His association with DEPT® began later that year, with a mandate to drive growth across the Asia-Pacific region. Since then, his responsibilities have expanded, reflecting his continuing presence in the region’s advertising and digital ecosystem.

Beyond executive roles, Mohan has remained closely connected with the wider advertising and marketing community, participating in industry forums and conversations around the future of marketing, technology and AI.

An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, where he pursued an MBA in Marketing, and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, where he studied Petroleum Engineering, Mohan’s journey combines an analytical foundation with decades of experience in the creative and communications business.

As Vishnu Mohan celebrates another year, his career offers a glimpse into how advertising leadership itself has evolved — from managing media and agency networks to building technology-led businesses capable of operating across markets and disciplines.