MAM
WPP names Microsoft executive Cindy Rose as new chief executive
MUMBAI: WPP today announced a significant leadership change, appointing Cindy Rose as its new chief executive officer, effective 1 September 2025. She will succeed Mark Read, who steps down on the same date after a 30-year tenure with the company, including seven years as CEO. Read will assist Rose with the transition until the end of the year.
Rose brings extensive experience from the technology, telecommunications, media, entertainment, and creative industries. For the past nine years, she has held senior leadership roles at Microsoft, most recently as chief operating officer, global enterprise, where she focused on leveraging digital technology and AI for business transformation. Before this, she served as president of Microsoft Western Europe and CEO of Microsoft UK.
Her impressive career also includes leadership positions at Vodafone (managing director, UK consumer
business) and Virgin Media (executive director, digital entertainment and media sales). She spent 15 years at The Walt Disney Co, culminating as senior vice president and managing director of Disney Interactive Media Group, EMEA.
Rose has been a non-executive director on the WPP board since 2019, giving her an intimate understanding of the company’s operations. An alumna of Columbia University and New York Law School, she also serves as an advisory board member at Imperial College Business School and McLaren Racing. Holding both British and American citizenship, she will split her time between London and New York. In recognition of her services to UK technology, she was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year Honours.
WPP chair Philip Jansen said:
“Cindy is an outstanding and inspirational business leader with extensive experience at some of the world’s most recognised companies and a track record of growing large-scale businesses. She has led multi-billion-dollar operations across the UK, EMEA and globally, built enduring client relationships and delivered growth in both enterprise and consumer environments.
“Cindy has supported the digital transformation of large enterprises around the world – including embracing AI to create new customer experiences, business models and revenue streams. Her expertise in this landscape will be hugely valuable to WPP as the industry navigates fundamental changes and macroeconomic uncertainty. Cindy’s appointment follows a thorough selection process that considered both internal and external candidates. As an existing Board member she understands our business and the needs of our clients, and we look forward to working with her in her new role as CEO.
“As he hands over to Cindy, I would like to reiterate my sincere thanks to Mark for his tireless commitment during more than 30 years with WPP and in particular the progress he has made to modernise, simplify and transform the company over the last seven years as CEO. On behalf of the Board and the company as a whole I wish him all the very best for the future.”
Rose expressed her excitement about returning to the creative industries.
She said: “WPP is a company I know and love – not only from my six years on the Board but as a client and partner for many years before that – and I couldn’t be happier or more excited to be appointed as CEO. I began my career in the creative industries and this feels like coming home.
“There are so many opportunities ahead for WPP. We have and continue to build market-leading AI capabilities, alongside an unrivalled reputation for creative excellence and a preeminent client list. WPP has the most brilliant, talented, creative people and I can’t wait to write the company’s next chapter together.
“I am grateful to Mark for his many contributions to the business over the years and I look forward to working together to ensure a smooth handover.”
Mark Read said:
“Having worked closely with Cindy for the last six years, I am delighted to see her appointed as CEO of WPP. From her time on the Board, she has real insight into our business and knows many of our clients, people and partners around the world.
“She brings deep experience of technology and AI and its transformational impact on business, and has successfully run large global organisations with talent at their core. After seven years as CEO, I know that I am leaving WPP in excellent hands.”
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
