MAM
Manesh Swamy steps in as co-founder and chief creative officer at First AI
MUMBAI: Manesh swamy has hit reset—and rewrite. After more than 20 years in India’s creative and digital advertising business, the award-winning creative leader has co-founded First AI consultancy pvt. ltd., stepping in as co-founder and chief creative officer.
Based in Navi Mumbai, Swamy’s new venture positions itself as a hybrid consultancy, product studio and creative partner, combining human craft with AI-led speed. At First AI, AI stands for artistic imagination, analytical implementation and audience interaction, driven by an always-on innovation mindset.
Before starting First AI in June 2025, Swamy served as managing director and chief creative officer at LS Digital Group from April 2024 to March 2025. Prior to that, he spent close to five years at LS Digital in senior leadership roles, including chief creative officer and senior vice president, senior vice president creative social media pr and marcom, and vice president creative, helping shape large-scale digital and creative mandates.
Earlier, Swamy was vice president creative at Logicserve Digital between 2019 and 2021, where he led creative strategy and brand storytelling. His longest tenure was at Hungama Digital Services, where he spent 15 years, joining as a senior visualiser and rising to associate creative director and later creative director. During this period, he played a key role in building the creative function and helped the company win more than 100 metals at national and international award shows.
Over the years, Swamy has spearheaded campaigns for leading brands including HDFC Life, Canon, Mankind Pharma, Tata Motors Finance, Tata Pravesh, Tata Indicash, Videocon D2H, Bajaj Allianz, Mrs Bectors Group, Ebro India, PepsiCo, Mahindra Auto, Nerolac Paints, Singapore Tourism, Milton, Intel, UB Group, ACC and Eros Now.
A regular on global and Indian juries, Swamy has judged YouTube Works Awards, Digixx, Goafest Abbys and AdFest Pattaya, and was named in Social Samosa’s 40 Under 40 list in 2019.
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
