Dr Sandeep Goyal elected as President of AAAI

Dr Sandeep Goyal, Chairman & Managing Director, Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd was elected as the President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2026-27 at its Annual General Body Meeting held today in Mumbai.

Jaydeep R Gandhi was elected as Vice-President of the Association.

Other elected members of the Board in alphabetical order are:

1. Sam Balsara | Chairman & MD, Madison Communications Pvt Ltd
2. Priyanka Chatterjee | Director, Standard Publicity Pvt Ltd
3. Tanya Goyal | Director, Everest Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd
4. Santosh Kumar | COO, Innocean Worldwide Communications Pvt Ltd
5. Kunal Lalani | MD, Crayons Advertising Pvt Ltd
6. Chandramouli Muthu | Exec. Dir., Maitri Advertising Works Pvt Ltd, Cochin
7. K Srinivas | Mg. Dir., Sloka Advertising Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad
8. Ajit Varghese | Group CEO, Media & OOH, Platinum Advertising Pvt Ltd

Immediate Past President, Srinivasan K. Swamy will be the ex-officio member of the AAAI Board for 2026-27.

On this occasion, Dr Sandeep Goyal, President of AAAI, said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust AAAI members have reposed in me as President of this distinguished institution. My commitment to championing innovation, upholding the highest standards of creativity in advertising and building on the momentum past presidents have achieved remains unwavering. Our goal, this year, is to provide steadfast support to the entire advertising & media ecosystem, helping the industry navigate challenges posed by new technologies and seize new business opportunities. With the exceptionally experienced and talented Board of the AAAI taking charge today I am confident we will take our industry to greater heights. This year, we will also focus on skilling our younger generation and will take up societal causes to demonstrate that real communication is for the betterment of the society”

Dr. Goyal, an MBA, PhD and DLitt, is Chairman of both Rediffusion and Everest, two of India’s largest independent advertising agencies. Over the past 40 years he has worked across HTA (now VML), Trikaya Grey (part of WPP now), DDB Mudra and Rediffusion Dentsu, Young & Rubicam. He is a former Group CEO of Zee Telefilms and former India JV partner & Chairman of Dentsu India & Middle East. Dr. Goyal has also been Chairman of Snapchat’s India Advisory Board besides doing a 3-year stint in the Punjab Govt. as Principal Secretary. With 10 books to his credit, Dr. Goyal is a widely published columnist and commentator with regular writings in The Economic Times, Business Standard and more.

On his appointment as Vice President – AAAI, Mr Jaydeep R Gandhi said “Being re-appointed as Vice President of AAAI is an honour and a testament to the trust the industry places in me. I look forward to contributing my mite in driving innovation and excellence in advertising while supporting the growth of this dynamic industry."

Jaydeep Gandhi, Founder of Another Idea, has been associated with AAAI since 2008 and has served on its Board since 2014. He has played an active role in Goafest, serving as Co-Chair and subsequently as Chairman since 2019. Beyond AAAI, Mr Gandhi is a Board Member of the IAA India Chapter and a Trustee of the Advertising Council of India’s STACA Trust.

The names of the Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and other co-opted directors will be announced in due course after the meeting of the elected members of Board of AAAI for 2026-27 to fill up the vacant positions as per articles of association of AAAI. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) is a not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed trade association of advertising agencies, formed in 1945, to promote their industry interests so that they continue to make an essential and ever-increasing contribution to the nation. The AAAI today is truly representative, with a very large number of small, medium and large-sized agencies as its members, who together account for almost 80% of the advertising business placed in the country.