MAM
Fintech disruptor Ambarish Kenghe takes the helm as Angel One’s group CEO
MUMBAI: Fintech just got a major shake-up. India’s largest listed retail stock broking house, Angel One has roped in Ambarish Kenghe as its new group chief executive officer. The announcement, originally made on 13 January 2025, marks a defining moment for the company as it gears up for an era of digital transformation and hyper-growth.
A powerhouse in product innovation, digital transformation, and business scaling, Kenghe has built a career at the intersection of technology and finance. Before stepping into Angel One, he made waves at Google Pay APAC as VP & general manager, spearheading the platform’s expansion and strengthening India’s UPI ecosystem. Ever tapped your phone to pay for chai? You might just have him to thank.
But Kenghe’s influence extends beyond payments. At Google, he played a pivotal role in the launch of Chromecast and the development of Google TV. Prior to that, he revolutionised the fashion e-commerce space as chief product officer at Myntra, where he championed AI and machine learning-driven personalisation.
His journey through the tech world doesn’t stop there. Kenghe has flexed his strategic muscles at Bain & Company in San Francisco and tackled high-speed switching technologies as an engineer at Cisco Systems in San Jose. With four patents under his belt and an academic background that boasts an MBA from UC Berkeley, a master’s degree from Purdue University, and another from IIT Kanpur, he’s a certified innovator.
Stepping into his role as group CEO, Kenghe is laser-focused on scaling Angel One’s product and technology portfolio, enhancing customer experiences, and ensuring the company continues leading the Fintech revolution.
Angel One Chairman & MD Dinesh Thakkar expressed his excitement, “Ambarish’s appointment as group CEO marks an exciting new era for Angel One. With his proven track record of driving innovation and deep expertise in the industry, he is the visionary leader we need to propel us into our next chapter of growth. At Angel One, we believe strong leadership shapes the future of Fintech. Ambarish’s guidance will position us not only to keep pace with the ever-changing financial landscape but also to lead the charge in transforming how financial services are delivered, empowering our customers with groundbreaking solutions and unparalleled value.”
Kenghe, in turn, shared his enthusiasm for the challenge ahead, “I am truly honoured to be part of Angel One, a brand that has been at the forefront of transforming India’s Fintech landscape. With its focus on innovation and customer-centricity, Angel One has built a strong foundation. I am eager to work with the talented team to drive the next phase of growth and empower users with advanced financial solutions.”
As Angel One continues to disrupt the financial services industry, Kenghe’s arrival signals a bold new chapter.
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
