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Guest Column: Are you good enough to be a CEO: The 4 ‘Selfie’ Check-up
It is within everyone’s grasp to be a CEO. There are secret opportunities hidden inside every failure. Life is not really a solo sport – even if you’re the CEO. Being a CEO is at least twice as hard as the next hardest position in a company. It is really, really hard. This is especially true with founder CEOs.
To become a proven transformational leader and creating a successful track record of building brands, businesses and value requires much more than just an opportunity.
Working with start-ups exposes one to holding positions of high responsibility and leadership earlier than most of one’s fellow colleagues. Shaping and growing new businesses and building a profitable and large opportunity canvass requires thought leadership, entrepreneurial management style, creative strategy and execution. Most important survival and growth strategy is the ability to reimagine businesses and build innovative business models.
In delineating the four essential faces for a CEO, I am adapting leading mythologist Joseph Campbell’s description of each of us as “a hero with a thousand faces,” and Erica Fox’s article. A CEO needs to be like a
Dreamer – this is the visionary face led by intuition – suggestive of an inner CEO.
Thinker – this is the evaluation face led by reason – suggestive of an inner CFO.
Warrior – this is the relationship face led by willpower – suggestive of an inner COO.
Lover – this is the relationship face led by emotion – suggestive of an inner CHRO.
Everything ultimately becomes the CEO’s problem, no matter where it starts. Reason why some CEOs crack under the pressure.
A CEO’s job consumes you.
It should not be looked at as a step-up but as a calling!
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(Piyush Sharma, a global tech, media and entrepreneurial leader, created the successful foray of Zee Entertainment in India and globally under the ‘Living’ brand. The views expressed here are of the writer’s and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.) |
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Adbhoot weaves AI magic into CottonKing Aura linen campaign
Subtle AI craft brings premium linen’s texture, fall and finesse to life in cinematic film that feels tangibly real.
MUMBAI: Adbhoot has threaded the needle perfectly using AI so invisibly that the real star of Cottonking’s new premium linen range, Aura, gets to shine. The campaign, built around the insight that premium clothing isn’t merely worn but experienced, puts the fabric itself centre stage. Instead of flashy drama or exaggerated styling, every frame focuses on what truly defines Aura: its visible weave, natural drape, soft finish and effortless movement. The result feels so tactile you almost want to reach out and touch the screen.
What sets the work apart is its quiet confidence in technology. There is no “look at our AI” fanfare. Adbhoot treated the tool as a precision filmmaking instrument ensuring consistent model features, accurate proportions, natural lighting behaviour and real-world physics so the film feels polished, controlled and unmistakably premium rather than artificial.
Adbhoot, founder & creative director Vaibhav Pandit explained, “AI is powerful only when it doesn’t announce itself. For Aura, our intent was clear. The fabric needed to feel tangible, the lighting needed to behave naturally, and the model had to remain authentic throughout. We shaped AI around the brief, not the other way around.”
Cottonking director Koushik Marathe added, “With Aura, our vision was clear: to create a premium linen range that feels elevated not just in look, but in experience. Linen is a fabric of character, it breathes, it moves, and it carries a distinct elegance that can’t be replicated. This campaign captures that essence beautifully.”
The campaign marks another step in Adbhoot’s thoughtful approach to modern storytelling, innovation supports the narrative rather than stealing the spotlight. In an era when AI is often used to grab attention, this one stands out by staying quietly honest letting the linen do the talking and the craft do the work.
From weave to wind-blown drape, Aura doesn’t just look premium, it feels it. And thanks to Adbhoot’s restrained touch, viewers are left with the impression of real fabric, real movement, and real emotion rather than pixels and prompts. In the world of fashion advertising, that’s the kind of seamless finish that really leaves a mark.
