MAM
Criteo appoints Manuela Montagnana as chief people officer
Mumbai: Global technology company Criteo on Thursday announced the appointment of Manuela Montagnana as chief people officer. In this role, Montagnana will lead the company’s people team, driving talent strategy and playing a key role in defining the future of work for Criteo’s global workforce of more than 2,500 employees. Montagnana replaces Denis Collin, who held the role for three years and will assist in the transition.
In her new roleat Criteo, Montagnana will be responsible for leading the people team, ensuring equitable, transparent and inclusive processes and practices to support an engaged and high-performing team. In addition, she will drive the strategy and execution of attracting, engaging, developing and retaining top talent by ensuring that Criteo remains an employer of choice, now and in the future, said the company in a statement.
She will be based in New York with global remit and will report to Criteo CEO Megan Clarken with plans to relocate to Paris, it added.
Montagnana brings more than 20 years of experience as a people executive, leading global teams in the manufacturing, service and technology industries. She has a proven track record of accelerating performance through human capital management in a transformation context in both highly matrixed organisations and those undergoing hyper-growth.
“In the last year, the workplace as we have known it has undergone massive change and I’m thrilled to have Manuela join Criteo to help provide a flexible, hybrid workplace that cultivates a culture of inclusivity, innovation and collaboration,” said Clarken. “She will be a crucial part of our leadership team as we continue to invest in our most valuable asset, our people, in order to power the world’s marketers and media owners with trusted and impactful advertising.”
Most recently, Montagnana was with Compass as vice president, head of human resources for product and engineering division, where she was the business partner to the chief technology and chief product officers. While at Compass, she led major transformational projects including the opening of a new development center in India and completing the talent integration following the M&A of two tech startups.
“What attracted me to Criteo was its people-centric culture, strong company values, global footprint and powerful mission,” said Montagnana. “It’s an exciting time to join the company in a year of growth momentum, and I look forward to optimizing the people program to create an engaged and productive employee experience that attracts top talent and nurtures development in today’s hybrid work environment.”
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
