Pivotroots promotes Sneha Vaidya as VP People & Culture

MUMBAI: Climbing the corporate ladder is one thing. Building the ladder while scaling the company is quite another. Pivotroots, the Havas-owned digital marketing agency, has elevated long-time company executive Sneha Vaidya to the role of vice president for people & culture, marking another milestone in a journey that has stretched across more than a decade at the agency. The promotion arrives at a time when PivotRoots is widening its global ambitions, including its recent expansion into the UAE market, and sharpening its focus on culture-building alongside business growth.

Vaidya’s rise through the ranks mirrors the agency’s own evolution from a growing digital outfit into a larger international network player. Having joined PivotRoots in February 2016 as senior manager for talent acquisition & engagement, she steadily moved through leadership roles including lead of people & culture and later associate director for people & culture before stepping into the vice-president position in April 2026.

In total, she has spent more than 10 years and four months with the organisation.

Her career trajectory reflects a distinctly hands-on HR journey, one built not just around hiring targets and payroll sheets, but around shaping workplace culture during the rapid expansion years of India’s digital advertising sector.

Across her roles, Vaidya has overseen recruitment, employee engagement, performance management systems, campus hiring initiatives and organisational development programmes. Her LinkedIn profile also highlights involvement in employee communication initiatives and workplace engagement activities designed to strengthen company culture.

Before PivotRoots, Vaidya worked across several organisations in the HR and talent management space, including Publicis Groupe, Resultrix, IIPM, Next Education India and recruitment consultancy firms in Mumbai.

Her experience spans nearly two decades, beginning with recruitment consulting roles before moving deeper into organisational culture and people strategy.

The promotion also underlines a larger trend sweeping through advertising and digital agencies, where people and culture functions are increasingly becoming boardroom priorities rather than back-office support roles. As agencies battle talent churn, hybrid work challenges and rising employee expectations, HR leadership has become central to business strategy.

At PivotRoots, the timing is particularly notable. The agency has been expanding its footprint internationally while simultaneously positioning itself as a data-led digital marketing player within the Havas network.

And as agencies race to retain talent in an industry known for burnout and rapid exits, culture may well be the sharpest competitive advantage money cannot instantly buy.