MAM
FCB Ulka appoints Surjo Dutt as national creative director
MUMBAI: FCB Ulka has appointed Surjo Dutt as national creative director. Surjo joins FCB Ulka from Sapient Nitro where he worked as Head of Creative – Delhi.
Surjo played a key role in the most successful year for Sapient Nitro’s advertising business since its’ inception in India. The Delhi office won marquee creative projects for brands like Nestle, British Airways and Philips during his 15-month stint.
The British Airways campaign #fuelledbylove and Nestle’s corporate campaign titled #100andrunning were standout pieces of creative work that not only worked in the marketplace, but also, were highly awarded. Goafest, Kyoorius, APAC brand engagement awards, Hollywood A-list awards, CIDCA, TAMBULI are some of the award shows where these campaigns were recognized.
Prior to this he was with JWT Delhi as Vice President and Executive Creative Director (ECD). He began his career with JWT as a trainee copywriter 17 years ago. In his 17-year stint Surjo worked on a huge variety of brands and categories including pretty much all brands in JWT Delhi.
Some of the brands Surjo worked on included Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Slice, Tropicana, Frito Lay, Nestle, Airtel, Nokia, GSK, Hero Motocorp, UNICEF, CONGRESS, NOKIA, Hamdard and RADIKAL. He was also a part of JWT’s global High Performance Group for 2 years.
Speaking on Surjo’s new role at FCB Ulka, FCB Ulka CCO Swati Bhattacharya said, “I remember the first time we heard the line ‘cheetah bhi peeta hai’ in JWT. We all knew the new kid on the Pepsi floor was special. Surjo’s omnivorous talent comes with an infectious energy and passion that not just creates great creative work but also strong creative teams. I am absolutely excited to have him partner me in building a bright creative future for FCB India.”
Commenting on Surjo’s appointment, FCB Ulka CEO Nitin Karkare said, “Surjo is a powerhouse of talent. The sheer energy that he brings to every assignment makes him a delight to work with. He is a great people’s person and his teams are always ready to give their best for him. He is a fantastic addition to our creative leadership team and I am sure our clients will benefit from his work”.
Speaking on his new role at FCB Ulka, Dutt said, “FCB Ulka is an agency I have always admired for not just its work but also its core values and culture. And now with true game changers like Rohit and Swati coming in, it’s a wonderful time to be in this agency. I am thrilled to be a part of the team and will do everything I can to write my bit of the success story that is sure to be written.
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.
