MAM
CVL Srinivas exits WPP India, ending a nine-year power run
MUMBAI: CVL Srinivas will retire as WPP India’s country manager on ’31 March, 2026, bringing down the curtain on a nine-year stretch that reshaped the group’s heft in the country’s bruising advertising market.
Srinivas took the top India job in 2017, succeeding Ranjan Kapur, after joining WPP in 2013 as chief executive of South Asia’s GroupM, now WPP Media. WPP said the succession process has been in motion for more than 15 months, with his successor set to be named in the coming weeks.
Speaking earlier on the group’s recent merger-driven reshuffle, Srinivas said the spotlight on WPP had only sharpened. Despite its scale, he argued, the network continues to work “pretty seamlessly across our agencies”, even as rivals circle for share.
Srinivas, who had indicated his wish to step down at 60, leaves behind a career that tracks the rise of modern media buying in India. He began at J W Thompson Worldwide as media lead for Unilever’s foods and personal care business at HTA Fulcrum, before stints as COO at Madison World, chief executive of Maxus Asia Pacific and chairman of Starcom Mediavest Group India. He also ran GroupM South Asia until 2018.
His departure opens up one of the most closely watched corner offices in Indian advertising, as WPP seeks to keep its edge in a market where global scale and local muscle are increasingly colliding.
MAM
Time brings TIME100 Next franchise to India with Reliance
List to spotlight 100 emerging leaders, gala set for December 2026 in Mumbai.
MUMBAI: It’s about time India’s next wave got a global spotlight and now, it’s on the list. New York-headquartered Time is expanding its TIME100 Next franchise to India, partnering with Reliance Industries Limited to launch TIME100 Next India, its first international extension of the rising leaders platform. The announcement was made at the Time100 Gala in New York by Jessica Sibley and Nita Mukesh Ambani, signalling a strategic push to tap into India’s growing influence across sectors.
The India edition will recognise 100 emerging leaders from the country and the global Indian diaspora, spanning business, science, sports, arts and social impact. The list will be curated by Time’s editorial team and published online, continuing the franchise’s focus on identifying individuals shaping the future.
The initiative will culminate in a gala event scheduled for December 2026 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, anchoring the platform within India’s cultural and business ecosystem.
TIME’s broader Time100 franchise has steadily expanded its global footprint since 2021 through events and impact-led initiatives. Executives noted that India’s growing pool of influential voices and innovators made it a natural next step for the platform’s international ambitions.
For Reliance, the partnership aligns with its broader push to support emerging talent and ideas on a global stage. For Time, it marks a timely bet on India not just as a market, but as a talent engine shaping the next chapter of global leadership.
