MAM
Saurabh Varma elevated as Publicis Communications’ India CEO
MUMBAI: Publicis Communications has elevated the incumbent Leo Burnett South Asia CEO Saurabh Varma as the CEO of Publicis Communications India. Varma’s appointment comes on top of his existing responsibilities.
To be based in Mumbai, Varma, as well other country leaders — Nakul Chopra and Praveen Kenneth, will continue reporting to Loris Nold, global COO of Publicis Communications, in charge of the APAC & MEA region. In the Indian sub-continent, Publicis Communications comprises Leo Burnett, Publicis India, Law & Kenneth | Saatchi & Saatchi, Orchard India, MSLGROUP, Publicis Ambience, Publicis Capital, Indigo iStrat and Publicis Beehive.
Nold commented, “With Saurabh leading our India efforts, I am very confident that we will drive significant acceleration across Publicis Communications, ultimately for the direct benefit of our clients.”
Varma added, “I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to help our creative brands fully leverage the strength of our collective expertise around digital, shopper marketing, PR and production platforms. In my mind, Publicis Communications is first and foremost about giving our clients full access to our capabilities, talent and resources across the country, as our aim is to deliver end-to-end solutions to all of our clients.”
Varma was appointed the CEO of Leo Burnett India in 2013, and, a year later, was elevated to the current south Asia role. He has about 20 years of industry experience, seven of which were spent as the chief strategy officer for south Asia, in Singapore.
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.
