MAM
HUL becomes top advertiser in BARC week 35
Mumbai: The top ten advertiser list for week 35 was led by FMCG giant Hindustan Lever Ltd (HUL) with an ad volume of 5072.06 (‘000 secs), as per the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. Securing the second position was Reckitt Benckiser (RB) India which registered a total ad volume of 3217.63.
Brooke Bond Lipton India was at the third spot, though at 959.09 (‘000 secs) its ad volume was significantly lower than that of RB India. Cadbury’s India, Procter and Gamble, Amazon Online India, Colgate Palmolive India, Ponds India, Asian Paints India, and ITC Ltd grabbed the remaining spots, in that order.
Among the brands, RB’s Dettol toilet soaps topped the list at 523.17 (‘000 secs). HUL’s Horlicks followed at the second spot with 516.97. Airtel Black – the mobile, DTH, the fiber in one plan from Airtel – made its way to the third position recording weekly AMAs of 381.35 (‘000s).
The remaining spots were occupied by Dettol Antiseptic Liquid, Lizol, Dettol, Vanish Oxi Action, Amazon.in, Clinic Plus Shampoo, and Harpic Bathroom Cleaner.
Brands
OpenAI hires Nitin Bawankule as head of enterprise sales, India
Former AWS, Google and Disney+ Hotstar leader to drive AI adoption at scale
MUMBAI: OpenAI has appointed Nitin Bawankule as head of enterprise sales for India, strengthening its leadership bench as it deepens its push into one of the world’s fastest-growing AI markets.
Bawankule, who will join in mid-May, brings more than two decades of experience across cloud, media, and digital ecosystems. Most recently, he served at Amazon Web Services, where he led multiple high-growth verticals and helped accelerate enterprise adoption of cloud and AI solutions in India.
Announcing the move, OpenAI head of enterprise sales, India Nitin Bawankule said he is looking forward to helping organisations transition from “isolated AI pilots to company-wide transformation” and embedding AI into everyday workflows to unlock productivity and better decision-making.
Before AWS, Bawankule held senior leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company, where he led ad sales for Disney+ Hotstar and television networks, driving revenue growth across major sporting and entertainment properties. He also spent over eight years at Google, including a stint as country director for Google Cloud in India.
His appointment comes at a time when Indian enterprises are rapidly scaling AI adoption, moving beyond experimentation to integrating AI into core business functions. OpenAI’s decision to bring in a seasoned enterprise leader signals its intent to capture this opportunity and build deeper partnerships across industries.
With a strong track record in navigating major technology shifts, Bawankule is expected to play a key role in translating AI’s promise into practical, business-ready solutions for Indian companies.
As the race to operationalise AI gathers pace, OpenAI’s latest hire suggests it is gearing up not just to participate, but to lead from the front in India’s enterprise AI story.
