MAM
Interbrand appoints global CMO & North American CMO
MUMBAI: Interbrand, a brand consultancy, has named Graham Hales as its global chief marketing officer and Andrea Sullivan will be the new chief marketing officer of Interbrand North America.
Hales most recently served as chief executive officer of Interbrand London, while Sullivan served as executive director of client services and was responsible for client services and marketing for Interbrand North America. In their new roles, Hales and Sullivan will work closely to integrate marketing and business development initiatives to drive growth across Interbrand’s global network. Hales and Sullivan will work with regional managing directors to engage new clients while deepening relationships with existing clients, ensuring they continue to benefit from the firm’s strategic and creative offerings and services.
As CEO of Interbrand London for the past four years, Hales led key brand engagements with some of the firm’s most high-profile clients, including the BBC, British Airways and Samsung. Under his leadership, Marketing Magazine named Interbrand’s London office Agency of Year in 2011. Hales brings extensive global experience to his new role as Interbrand’s global chief marketing officer. He has helped to oversee the firm’s offices in Amsterdam and Mumbai and has also driven regional business development activity in the Middle East, Turkey and Scandinavia. Prior to serving as Interbrand London’s CEO, Hales was Interbrand’s global chief communications officer. While in that role, he was instrumental in helping to create original content around the firm’s annual ‘Best Global Brands’ report.
While serving as executive director of client services, Sullivan led the client services and marketing team and co-founded Interbrand’s global corporate citizenship practice. Additionally, she played a pivotal role in developing and promoting Interbrand’s thought leadership on a global scale, having delivered interactive experiences with partners such as the ANA, Cannes, Deloitte, Guggenheim, Harvard, Lyons, MoMA, NYSE, United Nations, World Business Forum and Yale. Sullivan was a founding member of G23, a landmark consultancy comprising top female leadership from within the Omnicom network. G23 was designed to lead Omnicom clients in activating the global female economy.
“It is a very exciting time in the history of Interbrand,” said Interbrand’s global chief executive officer Jez Frampton. “The promotion of both Graham and Andrea marks the first time that the firm has had two leaders in place to strategically foster and activate a global vision of marketing, communication, and business development. Graham and Andrea have been proven leaders of the business for many years and I congratulate them both on the next chapter of their careers at Interbrand.”
Brands
Wipro hires 7,500 freshers, withholds FY27 hiring outlook
Profit rises to Rs 3,522 crore, Rs 15,000 crore buyback announced.
MUMBAI- Hiring may be on, but visibility is off, Wipro is adding talent even as it pauses the crystal ball. The company hired 7,500 freshers in FY26 but stopped short of offering any hiring outlook for FY27, underscoring the uncertainty gripping the IT services sector as it pivots towards an AI-led operating model.
The disclosure came alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, where management flagged volatile demand conditions and refrained from committing to future workforce expansion. Chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil noted that over 3,000 of the total hires were onboarded in the March quarter alone, signalling continued intake despite a lack of clarity on deployment pipelines.
This divergence active hiring without forward guidance reflects a broader industry pattern where talent acquisition continues even as deal conversions remain uneven and client spending cycles stretch. Wipro expects its IT services revenue for the June quarter to range between a decline of 2 per cent and flat growth sequentially in constant currency terms, reinforcing near-term caution.
Chief executive officer Srini Pallia pointed to artificial intelligence as both a disruptor and an opportunity. He said evolving client priorities are pushing the company towards outcome-driven engagements, with Wipro increasingly focusing on a services-as-software model through its AI Native Business and Platforms unit. The shift marks a structural change from traditional headcount-led growth to AI-enabled delivery frameworks.
The company has already committed over $1 billion to its AI ecosystem, with investors closely watching how these investments translate into revenue. For now, the numbers present a mixed picture. Net profit rose sequentially to Rs 3,522 crore, while revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 24,236 crore. However, core IT services performance remained under pressure, with full-year revenue declining 0.3 per cent in dollar terms and 1.6 per cent in constant currency.
Large deal bookings offered a counterpoint, rising 45.4 per cent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, highlighting a widening gap between deal wins and actual revenue realisation. On a quarterly basis, IT services revenue slipped 1.2 per cent sequentially, signalling continued softness in execution.
Margins, however, told a more optimistic story. Operating margins expanded to 17.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting improved cost discipline. That said, the company cautioned that upcoming wage hikes and the ramp-up of large deals could exert pressure going forward.
Attrition stood at 13.8 per cent in the March quarter, indicating stabilisation after periods of elevated churn. Alongside its earnings, Wipro also announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback, reinforcing its focus on shareholder returns, with a payout ratio of 88 per cent over the past three years.
Taken together, the numbers capture a company in transition investing in AI, maintaining hiring momentum, but navigating a demand environment where growth is uneven and visibility remains limited.
