MAM
Kaizzen launches AI Collective to sharpen modern communications
NEW DELHI: Kaizzen, the communications consultancy, has added a fresh edge to its portfolio with the launch of Kaizzen AI Collective, a new service vertical designed to strengthen reputation management and brand visibility in an AI-first world.
Positioned as a comprehensive, intelligence-led offering, Kaizzen AI Collective expands the firm’s existing capabilities across public relations, crisis communications, digital and social media, creative and production, insights and public affairs. The new services will be available to clients across markets, drawing on Kaizzen’s footprint in India, the UAE and other global hubs.
As artificial intelligence increasingly shapes how stories are created, shared and amplified, Kaizzen believes data-backed decision-making has moved from being a differentiator to a necessity. The AI Collective aims to help brands navigate this shift with sharper strategy, faster execution and clearer measurement.
“Nearly 1.8 billion people worldwide are already using AI, with India second only to China,” said Kaizzen founder and CEO Vineet Handa. “AI is no longer optional. It is a strategic imperative. With Kaizzen AI Collective, we want to help our partners run smarter, more effective campaigns, while also preparing our people to lead in a future where technology and human judgement work together.”
The consultancy sees the new vertical as a key step in its growth journey and in the broader AI-led transformation of India’s communications industry. What sets the Collective apart, Kaizzen says, is the depth and breadth of its offerings, bringing together strategy, intelligence, creativity and measurement under one roof.
Kaizzen COO Nikhil Pavithran, said the focus is firmly on long-term value rather than short-term hype. “Kaizzen AI Collective is not about chasing trends. It is about building capability, credibility and competitive advantage for the ecosystem we operate in. Our commitment is to responsible and ethical AI adoption, with impact that can be clearly measured.”
With this launch, Kaizzen reinforces its positioning as a forward-looking communications partner, ready to meet the evolving needs of businesses and institutions, while future-proofing its talent for a rapidly changing industry.
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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.
