MAM
Akash Sharma leaves Zee Media to become chief strategy officer at Admerly
The publisher monetisation platform snaps up a decade of hard-won industry experience
Admerly, a publisher monetisation platform operating within the BE Group ecosystem, has recruited Akash Sharma as chief strategy officer, poaching him from Zee Media Corporation, one of India’s largest media conglomerates, where he served as assistant vice president of digital monetisation.
The move is a sharp pivot: from running revenue at scale inside a broadcasting giant to shaping the strategic direction of a scrappy platform built to rewire how India’s digital publishers make money. Sharma brings more than a decade of publisher-side muscle to the role: programmatic strategy, yield management, direct advertiser partnerships, and the unglamorous but critical business of revenue operations.
At Admerly, his remit is broad. He will define the company’s go-to-market strategy, deepen ties with enterprise publishers, and steer the product roadmap to meet the shifting demands of an advertising ecosystem that shows no sign of slowing its churn.
Sharma was unambiguous about what drew him across the table. “After more than a decade on the publisher side, building revenue engines, managing demand partnerships, and learning what it takes to monetise content at scale, I made a deliberate choice to move to a platform that I believe is solving the right problem in the right way,” he said. “The best monetisation strategies are the ones that work for the viewer, not just the balance sheet. At Admerly, that principle isn’t a secondary consideration. It’s the foundation of how the product is built.”
Arun Raghav, founder and business head at BEdigitech, made no secret of why the hire matters. “Akash has lived that world. He’s built revenue systems, managed complex demand relationships and made the tough calls that come with monetising content at scale,” Raghav said. “Having that perspective in our leadership team changes how we build, how we sell and how we show up for our customers.”
For Admerly, landing a practitioner who has felt every pressure publishers face is less a luxury than a statement of intent: that it means to be taken seriously, and fast.
Brands
Allied Blenders names Pradipta Basu as CMO amid marketing reshuffle
Leadership rejig sees Basu take charge while Mohta, Rao exit SMP roles
MUMBAI: Allied Blenders and Distillers Limited has appointed Pradipta Basu as its chief marketing officer, marking a key shift in its marketing leadership as the company sharpens its growth strategy.
The appointment, effective April 15, 2026, also sees a change in reporting structure. Arvind Mohta and Uday Rao will no longer be classified as senior management personnel, though both continue in their roles as marketing directors.
Basu steps into the role with over 25 years of experience across FMCG and beverages, having worked with companies including Radico Khaitan, United Spirits, ITC Limited, Godfrey Phillips India, Alcobrew Distilleries India and HJ Heinz.
Most recently, he served as vice president – marketing and business development at Radico Khaitan, where he led national marketing strategy, portfolio management and P&L responsibilities. His remit also included driving innovation and scaling brand growth across multiple categories.
Over the years, Basu has built a reputation for managing large national brands and premium portfolios, while leading integrated ATL and BTL campaigns, product launches, pricing strategies and agency ecosystems.
Academically, he holds a management degree from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, along with an MBA in marketing and HR. He also has a PhD in management from École Supérieure Robert de Sorbonne, France.
With this move, Allied Blenders appears to be aligning its marketing leadership with evolving business priorities, placing seasoned experience at the centre of its next growth phase.
