MAM
Leo Burnett promotes Rakesh Hinduja as COO, West
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett has promoted Rakesh Hinduja to chief operating officer, West.
He will continue reporting to Dheeraj Sinha MD India and chief strategy officer, South Asia and RajDeepak Das MD India and CCO, South Asia.
Rakesh has been leading Leo Burnett’s head office Mumbai’s operations as the executive director and branch head.
Speaking about the elevation, Dheeraj Sinha says, “Rakesh is the perfect role model for the new-age agency we are building. His leadership on all the three parameters of people, product and profit has been stellar. Under his watch, we have consistently seen spectacular work that has won our brands market-share, and glory at platforms such as Cannes Lions, Spikes and Effies. He has delivered high-quality growth for the Mumbai office, leading the teams to win a new business almost every two weeks. The momentum and buzz at Leo Burnett Mumbai are palpable. Rakesh has been an amazing team player, helping push the Publicis Groupe’s Power of One agenda.”
In his new role, Hinduja will drive the Power of One agenda for Leo Burnett in the West. He will help build cross-platform solutions for our clients using our services in Entertainment (Publicis Entertainment), Content (Content Factory), Experiential (Arc Worldwide), Production (Prodigious), Digital (Indigo Consulting and Digitas) and Media (Zenith Optimedia, Ecosys and Beehive). He will lead all the functions of Leo Burnett Mumbai to create world-class work, build a high growth business and create a culture where people come to do the best work of their lifetime.
Commenting on Rakesh’s promotion, Rajdeepak Das adds, “Rakesh is always there, backing great creative work and making integrated thinking happen for our clients. He has been an essential part of the journey to get where we are today. This elevation is much-deserved and will take all of us to greater heights.”
Talking about his promotion, Rakesh Hinduja mentions, “I am happy with my journey at Leo Burnett – a new-age, solution-providing ‘Wave 3’ agency. I’m proud of the brave work we have done and I am hungry for more. Hereon, there are a lot of exciting things to do and in quick time. I want to take a critical pause here to thank all our clients and the Burnetters for their belief in me.”
Apple rarely announces minor updates with much fanfare, and iOS 26.4 is no exception. No dramatic redesigns, no flashy keynote moments. What it delivers instead is a focused set of improvements that sharpen the experience you already have. If that sounds underwhelming, spend a week with it. You will change your mind.
Apple Music Learns to Listen Better
The biggest shift in this update lives inside Apple Music. Apple has brought AI-powered playlist generation to the app, and it works on mood rather than genre. Type something like “rainy evening at home” or “running late on a Monday,” and it builds a playlist that actually fits. This is not algorithmic guesswork dressed up in new clothing. It genuinely reads the intent behind vague descriptions and responds well.
Alongside this, a new concerts feature scans your listening history and surfaces live events happening near you. It is a smart bridge between your digital music habits and real-world experiences. Apple is quietly making the case that a music app should do more than just play songs.
Shazam also gets a meaningful upgrade. It can now identify songs without an internet connection. This might sound like a minor convenience, but anyone who has tried to Shazam something at a crowded venue with patchy signal will tell you it is anything but minor. The feature works locally on-device, which also means it is faster.
CarPlay Gets Smarter Controls
CarPlay has been updated with deeper integration for intelligent voice assistants. The goal is to reduce how often drivers need to look at a screen or tap anything at all. You speak, things happen. It is a clear step toward making the driving experience safer without stripping away functionality. The integration feels natural rather than bolted on, which is a harder thing to achieve than it sounds.
The Fixes You Feel Every Day
This is where iOS 26.4 earns its keep. Keyboard responsiveness has been improved, and the difference is noticeable immediately. Typing feels more accurate and less combative. Accessibility features have been refined across the board, with better contrast options and adjusted spacing that makes the interface easier to read without forcing you into larger text sizes.
The Health app has also been updated. It now surfaces more actionable insights from your daily data rather than just displaying numbers. If your sleep patterns have shifted or your activity levels have changed, the app now contextualises that clearly instead of leaving you to interpret raw figures on your own.
These are the kinds of changes that do not photograph well for a press release. They also happen to be the ones that make your phone feel genuinely better to use.
A Few Other Additions
New emojis have been added in this update. They will find their way into your conversations faster than you expect. Family Sharing has also been updated, with more granular control over shared payments and subscriptions. If you share an Apple account with family members, this puts clearer limits on who can spend what, which has been a long-requested fix.
What This Update Actually Represents
iOS 26.4 is Apple doing what it does best when it is not trying to make headlines. Every addition here serves a clear purpose. The AI music features are genuinely useful. The CarPlay improvements address a real safety concern. The small UI fixes accumulate into a noticeably smoother daily experience.
There is no bloat. Nothing feels experimental or half-finished. That discipline is harder to maintain than it looks, especially as operating systems grow more complex with each passing year.
If you have been holding off on updating, this is the one worth installing.
