MAM
Tech Mahindra acquires leading strategic design consultancy, Mad*Pow
MUMBAI: Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation and consulting services and solutions has announced the acquisition of Mad*Pow, a strategic design consultancy headquartered in the US. The addition of Mad*Pow to the Tech Mahindra portfolio is expected to help bolster capabilities in Customer Experience (CX) and digital transformation such as research, experience strategy and service design, user experience design, behavior change design, content strategy, mobile app and web development, design ops, data science and analytics. The Boston-area consultancy will offer a strong complement to Tech Mahindra’s existing offerings and capabilities across design, marketing and commerce.
CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “Mad*Pow’s acquisition is in sync with Tech Mahindra’s global digital charter. With this collaboration, our digital footprint will take a deeper root not just in the US, but in the wider ecosystem world over. I welcome the Mad*Pow team into the Tech Mahindra family, and I am confident that together we will achieve greater success.”
A pioneer in the experience design field, Mad*Pow leverages strategic design and the psychology of motivation to create innovative experiences and compelling digital solutions for global clients. Mad*Pow’s unique human-centered design approach is fueled by deep empathy and an understanding of behavior science, which will create real differentiation for Tech Mahindra’s 900+ customers.
Will Powley, Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Mad*Pow, said, “Tech Mahindra’s experience and reach will enable Mad*Pow to scale faster by greatly enhancing its digital transformation offerings with existing and potential clients. The collaboration will also create vast opportunities for Mad*Pow to provide it’s unique and differentiated strategic design services to Tech Mahindra’s large global customer base.”
Vivek Agarwal, Global head of Corporate Development, Tech Mahindra, said, “We are excited to announce Tech Mahindra’s key acquisition of a digital asset in North America. The addition of Mad*Pow to Tech Mahindra family will greatly enhance our ability to create and deliver enhanced customer experiences for our global clients.”
Mad*Pow’s acquisition underlines Tech Mahindra’s focus on digital growth, under the TechMNxt charter, which focuses on leveraging next generation technologies and solutions to disrupt and enable digital transformation, and to build and deliver cutting-edge technology solutions and services to address real world problems to meet the customer’s evolving and dynamic needs.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
