Celebrating Ajay Kakar: The visionary behind some of India’s most trusted brands

Today marks the birthday of Ajay Kakar, whose career has been instrumental in shaping how brands communicate trust, purpose and identity in modern India.

With a professional journey spanning more than three decades, Kakar has successfully bridged the worlds of advertising, financial marketing and corporate branding,  leaving a lasting imprint across every organization he has led.

Currently serving as Head of Corporate Branding at the Adani Group, he is responsible for shaping the group’s unified brand narrative across its diverse portfolio of businesses. His mandate focuses on consolidating Adani’s communication architecture to reflect the group’s growth, credibility, and vision for sustainable national development. In this role, he continues to build on his legacy as one of India’s foremost voices in strategic brand building and integrated communications.

Before joining Adani in 2023, Kakar spent nearly 15 years with the Aditya Birla Group, where he was the Chief Marketing Officer of Aditya Birla Capital. During this period, he led the creation of a singular, powerful brand identity that brought together multiple financial services under one master brand,  a transformation that positioned Aditya Birla Capital among India’s most trusted financial institutions. His work there is widely regarded as a benchmark in unifying multi-business enterprises under a cohesive marketing vision.

Prior to that, he headed Branding and Communications at Reliance Capital, where he oversaw brand strategy, media engagement, and corporate communications during a period of significant growth and diversification for the company. His strategic communication frameworks contributed to strengthening Reliance Capital’s visibility and reputation in the financial services sector.

Kakar’s professional foundation was built at Ogilvy, where he spent over 14 years, rising to become President & Country Head of Ogilvy Public Relations. During his tenure, he also led Ogilvy’s Financial Practice, a pioneering division that reshaped how financial brands spoke to Indian consumers,  combining storytelling with financial clarity. His work helped elevate the importance of public relations as a strategic business function rather than a support service, making him one of the early champions of integrated brand communication in India.

On his birthday, the industry celebrates Ajay Kakar as a leader who has successfully combined creativity, strategy and purpose to build enduring brands and trust-driven narratives that continue to define corporate India.