MAM
DDB Mudra Group names Anurag Bansal as CFO
MUMBAI: DDB Mudra Group has announced Anurag Bansal as chief financial officer (CFO) of the group, effective 1 January.
Bansal takes over from Dilipkumar Upadhyaya who has stepped down after 26 years with the group. Upadhyaya will however continue to be a consultant with the group.
In his new role, Bansal will oversee the finance, legal & commercial and information technology functions of all entities under the group, in addition to heading the financial integration of the DDB Mudra Group with Omnicom Group.
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With over 16 years of experience Bansal said, “I am very excited to step in to the role of the group CFO. The CFO of today is very different from the CFO of even a decade ago. The CFO’s role today goes beyond the mere accuracy of numbers. Apart from implementing a robust process for financial information, compliance and corporate governance, together with a high level of risk assessment, he is required to have a more sophisticated understanding of all areas of the business and its operations. The journey for me has just begun and I look forward to some challenging yet exciting times ahead!”
He is also a trustee of the Mudra Foundation for Communications Research and Education.
On the appointment, DDB Mudra Group CEO and MD Madhukar Kamath said, “Anurag, in the short span of six years with us, has grown tremendously within the DDB Mudra Group. Apart from his professional capability and competence, I truly admire his energy, enthusiasm and leadership qualities. I am glad to have him partner me in our next phase of growth.”
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
