2025 - Talent Reset: Indian advertising’s major movements & leadership restructuring 

2025 emerged as a defining year for talent churn and leadership restructuring across India’s advertising, creative and media ecosystem. Triggered by global network realignments, most notably the Omnicom-IPG merger, and accelerated by a growing appetite for founder-led creative models, the year saw senior leadership elevations, cross-network role expansions, high-profile exits and a steady stream of independent agency launches.

Omnicom-IPG Merger: The Biggest Leadership Overhaul

The Omnicom-IPG merger triggered the most consequential restructuring of the year. Prasoon Joshi was confirmed as Chairman, Omnicom Advertising India, while Aditya Kanthy was elevated to President and Managing Director, overseeing unified advertising operations. Strengthening strategic leadership, S Subramanyeswar (Subbu) took on the role of Chief Strategy Officer, Omnicom Advertising India and Chief Knowledge Officer, Asia.

Within the merged creative networks, Dheeraj Sinha was appointed CEO, McCann India, with Rahul Mathew named Chief Creative Officer, McCann India. Josy Paul continued as Chairman, BBDO India, ensuring leadership continuity. Govind Pandey and Prateek Bhardwaj were appointed Co-Leads, TBWA\Lintas India, while Chandni Shah was named CEO of the combined Kinnect and 22feet Tribal entity, signalling deeper digital integration. Rohan Mehta took charge as Head of Digital Integration & Capability, Omnicom Advertising India.

On the media side, Kartik Sharma was appointed CEO, Omnicom Media India, with Amardeep Singh as COO and Shashi Sinha moving into a Strategic Advisor role.

Network-Level Creative Leadership Moves

Several networks recalibrated creative leadership to strengthen regional and national benches. Anupama Ramaswamy was elevated to Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer, Havas India, while Grey India appointed Harsh Kapadia as Chief Creative Officer. The agency also strengthened its senior creative bench with Nikhil Guha as Executive Creative Director and Mahima Kukreja as Group Creative Director.

At VML India, Kalpesh Patankar joined as Group Chief Creative Officer, India, supported by senior appointments including Sanjiv Mistry and Dhruv Warrior as Executive Creative Directors. TBWA\ India named Rohit Mukherjee as Executive Creative Director, while Dennis Kung joined TBWA Media Arts Labs in the same role.

Saatchi & Saatchi and Propagate India saw leadership consolidation, with Himanshu Saxena receiving an expanded role across both agencies, and Parikshit Bhattaccharya taking on an additional charge as Chief Creative Officer at Propagate India.

Senior Creative, Strategy & Content Appointments

Beyond traditional creative roles, agencies invested heavily in integrated strategy and content leadership. Sahil Shah was elevated to CEO, Dentsu Creative Isobar, while John Thangaraj was appointed Chief Strategy Officer - Creative & Media at Dentsu India. As part of a broader restructuring, Amit Wadhwa was tasked with leading Dentsu’s creative and media transformation across South Asia, alongside Anita Kotwani, who was named Chief Client Officer.

Elsewhere, Debdatta Bajpai joined Monks as Group Creative Director, while S4 Capital’s Monks appointed Sandipan Bhattacharyya as India Head - Creative. Cheil X named Souvik Dutta as National Creative Director, and FCB Neo appointed Manoj Pandey as National Creative Director.

Exits, Transitions & Independent Agency Launches

High-profile exits underscored the year’s volatility. Ajay Mehta exited WPP Media after a decade-long run, while Ashish Chakravarty resigned from his full-time role as ED and India Head of Creative, McCann.

Santosh Padhi launched Into Creative, positioning it as a modern creative company focused on culture-led brand thinking. An ex-Ogilvy creative debuted Colloquial, adding to the growing pool of boutique agencies prioritising agility and sharp creative output over scale. 

The Shape of Talent in 2025

Taken together, 2025 marked a decisive reset in how creative leadership is structured in India. Network consolidation ran parallel to the rise of independent agencies, while roles increasingly blended creative, strategy and business leadership. As agencies enter 2026, the after-effects of these leadership shifts are set to redefine how creative power is distributed across the industry.

In parallel with network restructuring, 2025 also saw a rise in founder-led creative ventures as senior talent stepped out to build independent shops. The trend was further underlined by Nikhil Kamath’s investment in One Hand Clap, signalling growing investor confidence in independent creative businesses. Together, these moves reflected a broader shift away from traditional network hierarchies toward entrepreneurial, talent-first agency models.