MAM
Zenith Media bullish on ad spend in India next fiscal
There‘s good news round the corner for the Indian ad industry.
The annual forecast of global advertising expenditure till 2004 released by Zenith Optimedia Group this week, paints a relatively rosy picture for the country and neighbouring China even as it predicts a faintly dismal scenario for the rest of the world.
2001, the forecast reads, is heading for minus six per cent in real term growth, while 2002 will see a minus one per cent growth. 23 ad markets will contract in 2001 as the global economy shrinks much more in 2001/2002 than in it did in the global recession of 1991.While the report hopes consumer confidence will pull the sluggish ad industry out of the troughs, India and China are the only growth markets highlighted for ad spends in Asia/Pacific in 2002. Zenith Optimedia Asia CEO Antony Young says while the events of 11 September did indicate negative sentiments, India is likely to show marginal growth in the coming year.
The present survey, the first to be released after 11/9, reveals that while travel advertising was obviously hit hard, the industry is posed for a quick recovery. The shock of 11 September galvanised business into addressing its pre-existing problems quickly, it says. The first to recover from the downturn and raise their ad investment, notes the report, will get the best media bargains: ad space will be available at 1990s prices. While corporate earnings may disappoint stock investors in 2002, even modest improvement will show up in advertising, predicts Zenith.
For India, the picture is even brighter. While the second and third quarters of the year have shown dips in ad spend growth, signs of plateauing will be seen in the second quarter and recovery expected from the third quarter 2002.
Overall, single digit positive growth is expected the next fiscal.
India Advertising Expenditure Summary
Major media (TV, print, radio, cinema, outdoor)
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The global scenario is not as cheerful though. 2002 is expected to be slightly negative in North America, according to the report. The slightly optimistic note is that ingredients for advertising recovery become visible during the next fiscal.
World Advertising Expenditure Summary
Major media (TV, print, radio, cinema, outdoor)
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Compound average annual growth in worldwide advertising spend 1990-1999 was 2.4% in constant prices terms. On our present numbers, the 1999-2004 rate is 1.0%.
Brands
Tessolve lands a semiconductor veteran to drive its next big push
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, who started his career at ISRO and has spent 35 years building chips and companies, joins the Bengaluru-based firm as president and chief operating officer
BENGALURU: Tessolve has never been shy about its ambitions. The Bengaluru-based engineering services firm already counts 18 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies among its clients, employs more than 3,500 engineers across 12 countries, and last year pocketed a $150m investment from TPG. Now it has hired the executive it believes can turn those assets into something bigger. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, a 35-year semiconductor veteran who once built satellite payloads for ISRO and has since scaled engineering organisations across three continents, joins as president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
THE MAN AND THE MANDATE
The appointment is, by any measure, a serious hire. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu comes to Tessolve after senior leadership stints at HCL Technologies, Altran and Wipro, where he managed large profit-and-loss portfolios and oversaw cross-regional teams. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,000 new products to market across the high-tech, energy and manufacturing verticals. Before the private sector claimed him, he began his working life as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, contributing to research and development in charge-coupled device technology and satellite payloads, a foundation that shaped everything that followed.
In his new role, he will lead Tessolve’s global growth strategy: expanding its engineering capabilities, deepening customer relationships and accelerating innovation across semiconductor and high-performance computing domains. The brief is broad, but the context is specific. Tessolve operates in the $550 billion global semiconductor market, and its recent moves, the acquisition of Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies and the TPG funding round, have sharpened both its reach and its expectations.
Srini Chinamilli, co-founder and chief executive of Tessolve, is characteristically direct about why Ravi Kumar Chirugudu was the choice:
“As we scale our global semiconductor and system engineering capabilities, Ravi’s appointment marks an important step forward. As global semiconductor demand continues to accelerate across industries, it is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor lifecycle, from design, packaging, validation and systems integration. Ravi’s deep knowledge and leadership in this ecosystem brings the right mix of industry expertise, customer connect and execution capability, which will play a key role in strengthening our position as a trusted global engineering partner and reinforcing our market leadership.”
THE NEW ARRIVAL SPEAKS
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, for his part, frames the move in terms of timing and culture, two factors that veteran executives tend to weigh as heavily as title or compensation:
“I am happy to join Tessolve at a time when the industry is rapidly evolving towards more complex, AI-driven systems. What stands out to me is its strong people-first culture and its commitment to bringing value to its customers. The strength of its global team, combined with its deep expertise in semiconductor innovation and next-generation product engineering, creates a solid foundation to build differentiated, scalable solutions. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive strategic growth and strengthen its role in shaping the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
The reference to AI-driven systems is not incidental. The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a structural reshaping, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. For engineering services firms like Tessolve, which offers end-to-end capabilities from silicon design to packaged parts and invests in high-performance computing, high-speed interfaces, photonics and 5G, the moment is both an opportunity and a test. The company says it is well positioned to capture the next wave of industry growth. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu is now the person who has to prove it.
He came in from outer space, literally, and spent three decades learning how the semiconductor industry works from the inside out. Now Tessolve is betting that accumulated knowledge can help it cross the next frontier. In the $550 billion global chip market, the gap between ambition and execution is measured in engineering hours and leadership quality. Tessolve has just gone shopping for both.
