MAM
Metro Brands Ltd appoints Nandadeep Jayakar as Foot Locker India’s business head
Mumbai: As India edges closer to the launch of the first Foot Locker stores, excitement among sneaker heads and sports enthusiast continues to increase. Taking a step further in ensuring unparalleled customer experience, Metro Brands Ltd (who will own and operate Foot Locker stores within India) has announced the appointment of Nandadeep Jayakar as ‘Business Head – Foot Locker India,’ [effective immediate]. Nandadeep has three decades of experience in operations, management, product development, merchandising, and supply chain and brings strategic acumen and a successful track record of brand building and operational execution to the innovative table at Metro Brands Ltd. He will report to Metro Brands Ltd president, sports division, e-commerce and CRM Alisha Malik.
Nandadeep’s arrival at Metro Brands comes at a time when the company, which is one of India’s largest footwear retailers, is set to further amplify its business operations in the fast-growing athletic footwear segment. His addition underscores Metro Brands’ commitment to pushing boundaries of progressive fashion.
Commenting on his appointment, Foot Locker India business head Nandadeep Jayakar said, “With our partnership with Foot Locker, Metro Brands Limited takes an exciting leap in the sneaker and athleisure categories. This expansion not only broadens our horizons but also reflects our unwavering commitment to catering to the evolving needs and preferences of our diverse customer base. It’s a testament to our agility, vision, and dedication to providing unparalleled quality and choice in footwear, empowering individuals to stride with confidence in every aspect of their active lifestyles. I look forward to Foot Locker India’s foray into this dynamic market as we gear up to set new standards in the industry and grow our leadership position in India.”
Metro Brands Ltd president Alisha Rafique Malik said, “As one of the leading footwear retailers in India, we take pride in resonating with the pulse of our customers. We are excited to elevate sneaker culture in the country with Nandadeep’s vast experience guiding us on this journey.”
Nandadeep’s dynamic career path includes his recent tenure at Adidas India, along with significant roles at prominent organizations such as Future Group, Sony Music, Bajaj Auto, and Voltas. His diverse background positions him uniquely to lead Foot Locker India’s business operations, as Metro Brands continues to expand its footprint in the retail sector.
Brands
IICT partners with Gativedhi to bring studio production tools to students
New MoU lets students explore AI-driven production pipelines for AVGC-XR
MUMBAI: The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) has teamed up with Gativedhi Technologies to give students a front-row seat to modern studio production. The collaboration will integrate Gativedhi’s AI-powered production intelligence platform, Shotrack, into academic programmes, letting students experience the workflow systems used by animation, VFX and gaming studios.
Under the MoU, faculty, students and researchers will get hands-on access to Shotrack through beta programmes, pilot deployments and academic evaluations. This will allow them to explore simulated production pipelines, understand asset management, track tasks and monitor schedules, essentially seeing how complex projects come together behind the scenes.
Shotrack is designed to tackle a key industry challenge: when multiple studios work on the same project, differing internal systems often create bottlenecks, slow approvals and complicate version control. The platform provides a unified production environment, enabling smoother collaboration across distributed teams while generating operational insights and predictive analytics to optimise crew allocation, forecast schedule risks and manage costs.
The collaboration also opens doors to Gativedhi’s wider ecosystem. Upcoming tools include StudioTrack, for studio operations management covering budgeting, recruitment and IT infrastructure, and WorkTrack, which measures workflow efficiency and team productivity across industries.
IICT plans to embed these tools into programmes covering animation pipelines, VFX workflows, gaming production and media project management. Students will also benefit from guest lectures, masterclasses, workshops, internships and research projects that connect academic learning with real-world studio practices.
IICT CEO Vishwas Deoskar, said the partnership provides “An environment where production pipeline tools can be explored, tested and refined while students gain insight into how large-scale productions are organised.”
Gativedhi Technologies founder & CEO Senthil Kumar added, “This collaboration introduces students to real-world studio management tools and helps us improve our platform with academic feedback.”
With Shotrack in classrooms, India’s future animators, VFX artists and gaming producers will get a taste of studio life long before they step into one.
