Rubbal Datta named CEO-designate of Mandrake Tech Labs

NEW DELHI: Mandrake Tech Labs has landed a heavyweight for its top job. The boutique media firm has named Rubbal Datta as CEO-designate, poaching a 26-year industry veteran to steer its next phase of growth. Datta joins in August 2026.

Datta arrives with a résumé spanning government relations, media and sports broadcasting, having held senior posts at JioStar (formerly Disney Star), Sahara India TV Network, Moser Baer, EuroKids and Mahindra & Mahindra, with deep runs across Indian and South Asian markets.

The Mandrake board made no secret of why he was picked. Datta’s grounding in government relations, public advocacy and stakeholder engagement, it said, lines up squarely with where the firm is headed, and it is banking on him to sharpen its market position and drive its expansion into AI-integrated media and public sector work.

Datta himself is keeping the brief tight: sharpen what Mandrake already does well in government communications, bolt AI onto how campaigns are planned and run, and push the firm into new lines of business while scaling what already exists.

Since its 2021 incorporation, Mandrake has built a track record on high-profile government mandates, including campaigns for the Ministry of Ayush’s International Day of Yoga, the Ministry of Food Processing’s World Food India, NFDC and the WHO Traditional Medicine Summit.

Mandrake Tech Labs runs an integrated stable spanning PR, social media, event management, media planning, ad films and digital innovation for clients across India. With Datta now in the corner office, the firm is signalling it wants to be more than boutique, it wants to be unmissable.