MAM
Sleepy Owl appoints Aseem Sood as VP of sales
Mumbai: Sleepy Owl, a Delhi-based D2C company in the innovative coffee space, has announced the appointment of Aseem Sood as vice president of sales. His appointment aligns with the brand’s plan of solidifying the core leadership team.
In this role, Sood will be responsible for leading the brand’s sales division with a focus on driving customer and business growth and increasing the company’s foothold across India. “He will also be responsible for setting up the demand creation and fulfillment eco-system along with building the team to drive and deliver the ambition for the coming phase of growth,” said the brand in a statement.
“Since inception, our vision has been to disrupt the at-home coffee industry in India, and give our patrons the best quality coffee in a convenient format and we are very excited to have Aseem join us in our growth journey,” stated Sleepy Owl Coffee co-founder Ajai Thandi. “Given his expertise in sales and a proven track record of breakthrough growth for a business across the offline channels for some of the most respected and popular global & Indian brands, I am confident that we will further strengthen our reach and help us in our vision of making India a country of coffee lovers.”
Sood brings with him over 15 years of diverse leadership experience across business and customer development, sales transformation, capability building, strategy formulation and implementation, and people leadership. He brings with him a deep understanding of the consumer goods segment of the Indian market.
An MBA in marketing from Xavier Institute of Management – Bhubaneswar, Sood previously headed Modern Trade for Mars Wrigley and also drove the strategic reinvention across import business and supply and supply chain in his tenure of eight years. He started his career with Cavinkare Pvt Ltd in 2005 and has also been associated with Marico Ltd, where he served as regional sales head.
“With the changing market dynamics and ever-evolving consumer needs, Sleepy Owl continues to innovate to define how India brews up to enjoy coffee as a product and a category and I am excited to be a part of their vision of making India a coffee-loving nation,” said Aseem Sood on his new role. “I hope to further transform the business with a refreshed strategic vision that embodies multi-channel strategies. My vision for Sleepy Owl is to make the products more relevant and more accessible for consumers in India. The emphasis would be on driving a coherent demand and distribution strategy across channels/geographies where consumers and shoppers engage with our brand.”
Digital
India leads global adoption of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in first week
From anime avatars to fantasy covers, users turn AI visuals into culture
NEW DELHI: India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0, just a week after its launch by OpenAI, underlining the country’s growing influence on global internet trends.
While the tool was introduced as an advanced image-generation upgrade within ChatGPT, Indian users are quickly reshaping its purpose. Instead of sticking to productivity-led use cases, many are embracing it as a creative playground for self-expression, storytelling and online identity.
From anime-style portraits and cinematic headshots to tarot-inspired visuals and fictional newspaper front pages, the model is being used to create highly stylised, shareable content. Features such as accurate text rendering, multilingual prompts and the ability to generate detailed visuals with minimal input have helped drive rapid adoption.
What sets the latest model apart is its ability to “think” through prompts, generating multiple outputs and adapting to context, including real-time web inputs. But the bigger story lies in how users are engaging with it.
In India, trends are already taking shape. Popular formats include dramatic studio-style lighting edits, LinkedIn-ready headshots, manga-inspired avatars, soft pastel “spring” aesthetics, AI-led fashion moodboards, paparazzi-style visuals and fantasy newspaper covers. Users are also restoring old photographs, creating tarot-style imagery and experimenting with futuristic design concepts.
Local flavour is adding another layer. Prompts such as cinematic portrait collages and Y2K-inspired romantic edits are gaining traction, blending global aesthetics with distinctly Indian internet culture.
The surge reflects a broader shift in how AI tools are being used in the country, moving beyond utility to creativity. As younger users, creators and social media enthusiasts experiment with new visual formats, AI-generated imagery is increasingly becoming part of everyday digital expression.
If early trends hold, ChatGPT Images 2.0 may not just be a tech upgrade but a cultural moment, giving millions a new visual language to play with online.
