iWorld
Vivek Das joins Zoo Media’s FoxyMoron as CEO
Mumbai: Zoo Media’s creative and performance digital agency FoxyMoron has appointed Vivek Das as its CEO. Vivek brings with him two decades of experience building digital businesses at scale.
In this role, Vivek will report to Pratik Gupta and Suveer Bajaj, founding partners of Zoo Media and FoxyMoron.
FoxyMoron continues to lead as an independent digital agency in the Indian market focusing on providing integrated solutions to brands across content, media, data and technology. With this continued focus Vivek’s role will be to build an inclusive and world class digital team capable of delivering outcomes focused digital solutions to clients.
Prior to his current role, Vivek was a Vice President at Mindshare, the largest media agency in the WPP network. In his last role at Mindshare he was responsible for driving digital transformation across network clients. Vivek has worn both business & strategy hats leading large clusters of clients across geographical markets and marquee brands such as Disney Star, PepsiCo, Ford India, Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, AMEX, Lufthansa, YUM Brands, The Muthoot Group & Apollo Tyres to name a few.
FoxyMoron & Zoo Media co founder Pratik Gupta remarked on the appointment, “Having known Vivek professionally for a long time we’re delighted to finally have him amongst us. While his professional credentials speak for themselves, what drove us to him was the alignment of vision and values. Our vision of building a data obsessed and customer experience focussed agency will come to the fore under his leadership. His ability to build process focused, high performing teams makes me excited for the future of FoxyMoron.”
On his appointment, Das said, “I am thrilled to join Zoo Media & FoxyMoron at this inflection point in their journey. We’re structured to unlock exponential growth through digital transformation and the true integration of content, media, data & technology. FoxyMoron is integrated by design and we want to use this platform to elevate the impact on brands and their customers. I am excited to be leading a passionate, best in class team with high energy and the willingness to break the age old advertising paradigm.”
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
