Digital
Astus group enters India, announces Sparsh Ganguli as India head
Mumbai: Astus Group, a global media trading company, is delighted to announce the official launch of its independent office in India. It will be spearheaded by Sparsh Ganguli, who joins as India Head. Ganguly has over 25 years’ experience working for agencies and media houses including Star, Sony, BAG Films, and has been instrumental in creating the partnerships required for launch. His expertise in the Indian advertising ecosystem and launching media trading companies in India will help Astus in creating the value for clients and media owners.
Originally founded in London in 2003, alongside the Indian office Astus has presence in 20 countries with over 300 clients and trades over US$400m annually. Astus works with advertisers to enhance their media budget using their products or services. Astus work across FMCG, Airlines, Automotive, Telecoms, Tourism, Food & Beverage, Hotels, Events/ Hospitality, Electronic Goods, Entertainment, Education and Charities. This is done in full collaboration with Clients’ agencies to ensure they get the media they want and the value Astus creates is implemented alongside the client’s communication strategy to enhance the overall value delivered back against the brief.
The Media Agency remains in control of the media planning and buying process at all times ensuring the quality is never compromised.
Astus also works with hundreds of Media Owners across all media channels, working in association with them to offset their hard cash costs and bring them business which complements their existing channels. Astus does this by enabling Media Owners to trade their soft currency or media space for goods and services they need. This means we can generate media with additional value which we pass on to our clients in the form of incremental product sales
Astus believes that by following this above process, it brings more value, and transparency, to not just their clients but also to media owners and all other stakeholders involved.
Speaking on the development, Astus’ Joint Chairmen and founding members Frances Dickens (who was recently awarded the OBE on the King’s Birthday Honours List for Services to Media Trading) and Paul Jackson, said, “We are fully committed to India as a market where we can help deliver incremental value for advertiser, agencies and media owners alike, ensuring that all parties get what they want as part of the process. We look forward to deepening our existing relationships and growing many more new ones over the coming years.”
Ganguli added, “Astus solves a real problem for clients who had to previously compromise on media to offset redundant or slow-moving products. In my experience working with clients and media houses in India, Astus business model can create synergies to enhance the efficiency of each media plan and add value to both parties.”
Sparsh’s appointment comes with immediate effect and will directly report to the founding members. He will be based in Mumbai.
Digital
OpenAI’s Stargate lead Peter Hoeschele exits with two senior leaders
Trio behind compute push set to join new startup amid leadership reshuffle
SAN FRANCISCO: Peter Hoeschele, a key figure behind OpenAI’s early Stargate data centre initiative, has exited the company, according to a report by The Information.
The departure is part of a broader leadership shift, with two other senior executives, Shamez Hemani and Anuj Saharan, also set to leave in the coming days. All three are expected to join the same new startup, although details about the venture remain under wraps.
The trio played a central role in OpenAI’s Stargate effort, an initiative aimed at building large-scale data centre capacity in-house to reduce reliance on external infrastructure providers. Their exits mark a notable moment for the company’s compute strategy as it continues to scale rapidly.
OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to The Information, “We’re grateful for the contributions Peter, Shamez, and Anuj have made to OpenAI and wish them the very best in what comes next.” The company also pointed to the recent appointment of Sachin Katti to lead its industrial compute organisation, signalling continuity in its infrastructure roadmap.
OpenAI has indicated that it does not plan to directly replace Hoeschele’s role, suggesting a possible restructuring of responsibilities within the team.
As competition intensifies in the race to build next-generation AI systems, leadership changes in core infrastructure teams are likely to draw close attention. For now, the spotlight shifts to what this departing trio builds next, and how OpenAI adapts as it scales its ambitions.
