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Nishith Desai Associates adds two heavyweights to global strategy roster
MUMBAI: When a law firm starts playing in the big league of global strategy, you know it’s thinking far beyond dusty courtrooms. Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) has just brought in two star players Chintan Vaishnav in Boston and Ritika Patni in New York to sharpen its edge in techno-policy, cross-border strategy, and boardroom advisory.
Dr Vaishnav, a futurist and techno-policy strategist, is best known for steering the Atal Innovation Mission at NITI Aayog and chairing the Startup20 Engagement Group during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023. With a Ph.D. in Engineering Systems and an M.S. in Technology and Policy from MIT, plus a B.A. in Indian Classical Music for good measure, he’s part scientist, part strategist, part storyteller. At NDA, he will spearhead work in AI governance, innovation policy, and public-private collaboration essentially, the legal brains trust for an increasingly tech-led world.
On the other coast, Ritika Patni takes charge as leader of NDA’s Global Legal Strategy Consulting Practice. A gold medallist from NUJS Kolkata and MBA alumna from Columbia Business School, she’s worn many hats corporate lawyer at Linklaters London, founder of wellness startup Arth, and consultant to Fortune 500s at Alvarez & Marsal. Her new brief at NDA: guiding cross-border strategy for technology, healthcare, and professional services clients.
The hires reinforce NDA’s unique “4D” model Practice, Industry, Leadership, Skillset which has long drawn in experts from outside the conventional legal track. It’s the same formula that brought in an engineer-turned-lawyer (Vaibhav Parikh), a surgeon-turned-lawyer (Milind Antani), a CA-MBA-turned-lawyer (Nishchal Joshipura), and a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence (Mihir Parikh).
Founder Nishith Desai calls the appointments “a commitment to embracing change and challenging conventional thinking” as NDA evolves into a strategic legal consulting powerhouse. With Vaishnav’s policy chops and Patni’s cross-border acumen, the firm looks set to blend law, leadership, and lateral thinking in a way few others can match.
MAM
Hyphen launches sunscreen campaign featuring Kriti Sanon as SPF Police
Campaign drives SPF habit; Blinkit tie-up enables instant sunscreen delivery.
MUMBAI: No SPF, no mercy Kriti Sanon is out patrolling your skincare routine. Hyphen has rolled out a new campaign film starring its Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer Kriti Sanon, who steps into a playful alter ego as the brand’s “SPF Police”, turning sunscreen reminders into a full-blown public service announcement with a wink. The campaign kicked off with a cheeky social media tease suggesting Sanon had “stepped down” from her role, sparking chatter online before the brand revealed the twist: she hasn’t gone anywhere, she has simply taken on an additional avatar, one dedicated to ensuring people do not skip sunscreen.
The film leans into humour to drive home a serious point. In a slice-of-life setting, Sanon intercepts a gym-goer about to step out without sunscreen, promptly handing over Hyphen’s ‘All I Need Sunscreen’, which arrives instantly via Blinkit. The message is clear: forgetting SPF is no longer a valid excuse when it can be delivered in minutes.
Beyond the laughs, the campaign taps into a well-known gap in everyday skincare habits. Sunscreen, despite being one of the most recommended steps, is often the most ignored. By gamifying the reminder through an “SPF Police” persona, Hyphen aims to turn a routine into a reflex.
The multi-stage rollout from intrigue-led teasers to the final film has been designed to spark conversation while embedding the brand into daily behaviour. It also spotlights Hyphen’s quick commerce partnership with Blinkit, positioning accessibility as a key enabler of consistency.
Sanon, who remains closely involved in product development and brand strategy, noted that the idea stemmed from a simple insight: skincare works best when it is easy, habitual and hard to ignore. The campaign reflects that philosophy equal parts science, storytelling and a nudge you cannot quite escape.
The film is now live across Hyphen and Blinkit’s digital platforms, with further activations expected to extend the campaign’s reach and perhaps keep the SPF Police on duty a little longer.
