MAM
FCB Group India announces organisational rejig & key elevations
MUMBAI: On the back of its success at the recently concluded Cannes Lions 2021 where it collected eight Lions, FCB Group India today announced the reorganisation of its creative agencies in India, along with key elevations.
The group which has seen a creative transformation over the last four years, announced organisational restructuring with its three full-service agency brands in India – FCB Ulka, FCB Interface, and FCB India. These three agencies will be a part of FCB Group India with Nitin Karkare, Swati Bhattacharya, Robby Mathew, and Joe Thaliath taking on more prominent roles, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
“It is imperative for us now, more than ever before, to be able to provide our clients with the strategic direction and creativity they need to navigate the new world we live in today,” said FCB Group India chairman & CEO Rohit Ohri. “Our new structure allows for our best people to provide focused and dedicated partnership to our clients; to bring the disruptive creativity, agility, and fluidity that is required today to transform our clients’ businesses and create unmissable brands.”
Karkare will take on the role of vice chairman at FCB Ulka. With 35 years in advertising, he started as a management trainee at Ulka Advertising. Karkare is known to forge long-term partnerships, be it his clients, teams, colleagues, or associates.
Bhattacharya, who has recently been named ‘Adweek Creative 100’ for 2021, has been appointed creative chairperson at FCB India. She became India’s first woman chief creative officer when she joined FCB Ulka in 2016. Under her leadership, FCB has won more than 120 awards.
Mathew takes over as vice chairman and CCO at FCB Interface. With over two decades at FCB Interface, he drives the agency’s creative agenda and is behind some of the agency’s most memorable campaigns for brands like Mahindra, Oreo, Bluestar, and Agrotech Foods.
Thaliath takes charge as vice chairman and CEO at FCB Interface. A retail pioneer and entrepreneur, he started his advertising career with FCB Ulka in Cochin. He later shifted to Mumbai and led many different businesses before becoming the CEO of FCB Interface. Through his 30 odd years with the Group, Thaliath has worked on global and Indian mega brands across the automotive, FMCG, publishing, media, and telecom sectors.
“Nitin, Swati, Robby, and Joe have been the pillars of the Group. The creative work that Swati and Robby have done over the last four years has made FCB Group India shine brightly on the global creativity firmament. Nitin and Joe have ensured that our creativity was a powerful economic multiplier for our clients. Together, they have scripted our creative transformation story,” Ohri further said.
“I believe this new three creative agency structure sets up the Group perfectly to serve our clients better, with a sharper focus on their business, and for accelerated growth as we look to our next 60 years in India. It signals the empowerment of our creative leaders and the building of sustainability in our creative transformation journey,” he added.
FCB Group India said that it also appointed the next level of leadership for each of its agencies, for which the announcement will follow soon.
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.
