MAM
Thinkstr elevates Ravi Raghavendra to NCD
Mumbai: Thinkstr, a Gurgaon-based independent agency, has elevated Ravi Raghavendra to the position of national creative director. He will shift to Bengaluru to kickstart the agency’s expansion.
Thinkstr’s founder Satbir Singh said, “Ravi has spearheaded the agency’s creative from day one and it was only a matter of time before he officially ran it. We’ve won some interesting new businesses and created some very popular campaigns where he has been at the core. We tossed a coin between Mumbai and Bengaluru for our next office and Ravi called correctly. Our client base includes traditional biggies as well as new-age startups, which matches the Bengaluru client profile to a T. We invite briefs from brands with national presence or ambitions.”
Raghavendra commands over 20 years of experience in the advertising and communication business, which includes 14 years as a creative leader across multinational agencies and a startup.
Speaking on his new role, Raghavendra shared, “We have been thinking of expanding our footprint beyond Gurugram for a while. Bangalore is an exciting market. It’s not only a hotbed of new-age businesses, it’s also the hotbed of new-age thinking and home to many established marketing success stories.”
“Speaking for myself, it’s also home for me. So it’s great to be back and assume added responsibilities from the home turf. I’m sure the Bangalore clients, who are as fine as the Bangalore weather, will be nice to us,” he added.
Digital
Authbridge finds 5.61 per cent discrepancy rate in on-demand hiring
White-collar roles show 4.33 per cent overall as employment history leads at 11.15 per cent in H1 FY26.
MUMBAI: India’s hiring scene is pulling a classic bait-and-switch, candidates promise the world on paper, but the background check reveals the plot twist nobody saw coming. Authbridge, the country’s top trust and authentication tech firm, released its Workforce Fraud Files – H1 FY26 report (covering July–December 2025) around 16–17 February 2026, crunching data from millions of verifications across identity, address, employment history, education, criminal records, and CV validation.
The headline numbers paint a sobering picture: white-collar hires clocked an overall discrepancy rate of 4.33 per cent, while the on-demand ecosystem (gig and flexible roles) fared worse at 5.61 per cent showing that the faster, looser world of app-based work comes with extra red flags.
For white-collar folks, employment verification topped the trouble list at 11.15 per cent, followed by address checks at 7.68 per cent, education at 4.49 per cent, and references at 4.17 per cent. Drug screening (1.87 per cent) and criminal records (0.50 per cent) stayed relatively tame, but still popped up enough to matter.
The gig side showed even sharper vulnerabilities, address discrepancies hit 9.70 per cent, identity (NID) issues 2.53 per cent, and criminal record mismatches 2.23 per cent particularly worrying for roles with direct customer contact or field duties.
Industry breakdowns add colour, address problems plagued Telecom (15.42 per cent), IT (12.02 per cent), Pharma (11.21 per cent), Retail (10.64 per cent), and Banking & BFSI (10.23 per cent). Employment verification headaches were biggest in Retail (16.37 per cent), Telecom (14.32 per cent), Banking & BFSI (13.00 per cent), and Pharma (12.10 per cent). Education slips stood out in Retail (9.16 per cent) and Telecom (7.80 per cent), while CV validation mismatches appeared in IT (12.80 per cent) and Banking & BFSI (2.91 per cent).
Authbridge CEO and founder Ajay Trehan didn’t mince words, “The H1 FY26 Workforce Fraud Files clearly show that hiring-related discrepancies remain a persistent and structural challenge. Despite faster and more digitised hiring workflows, we continue to see gaps in fundamental checks such as employment history, address, and education. These are not minor inconsistencies; they have direct implications for organisational risk, compliance, and trust.”
The report stresses ditching one-and-done checks, start screening pre-offer to avoid nasty surprises post-joining, and layer in periodic reviews like drug tests, court records, and lifestyle assessments for ongoing risk management. Tools like Authbridge’s Authnumber (consent-based digital credentials) and Authlead (deep-dive leadership vetting) get a nod for cutting friction and blind spots.
Bottom line? In a job market racing for speed and scale, skimping on trust verification is like building a house on sand, one solid background check away from watching the whole thing crumble.
