VML India Amps Up Its Leadership Team To Bolster Business And Culture

VML, a newly rechristened WPP agency that came into being from January 1 this year and named Babita Baruah as its CEO and Saurabh Saksena as President, has amped up its leadership team in the country.

VML India’s New Leadership Team

As part of this development at VML India, Bhautik Mithani has assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer, Pinaki Bhattacharya has become Chief Strategy and Client Partnerships Officer and Jyoti Mahendru has been named Chief People Officer at the agency.

Interestingly enough, the VML leadership saga had begun in October 2023 when WPP had announced the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson to form VML as a powerhouse in Brand Experience, Customer experience, Commerce, and Enterprise Solutions.

But it was in the second half of January, this year, that the agency announced the appointment of Baruah as the CEO and roped her in from the larger group wherein she served the dual role of Regional Client Lead at WPP and Executive Director at VMLY&R Thailand.

From the two merged agencies, VML India appointed VMLY&R’s CEO Saksena as Partner. On the very same day, Shamsuddin Jasani, who had been serving as the CEO of Wunderman Thompson decided to part ways.

A few days later, the agency had also named Harsh Shah who had been serving as Wunderman Thompson’s Chief Digital Officer as VML India’s Managing Partner.

Having amped up its leadership team in India further, this strategic move is aimed at strengthening VML’s commitment to delivering best-in-class services and solutions, leveraging people and the expertise of market leaders with extensive local knowledge as well as providing operational excellence and unparalleled support to clients across the region, along with a culture of growth for its employees.

As VML embraces this transformative phase, the company looks forward to further strengthening its position as a leader in the global creative and marketing landscape.

With more than 20 years of experience, Mithani has played an integral role in skillfully guiding agencies through many changes that took place in the industry over the last two decades.

Previously a key member of the leadership team at Wunderman Thompson, he joined the agency from Rediffusion Brand Solutions where he was Group CFO and a board member for nine years.

Similar to Mithani, Bhattacharya also comes with more than two decades of experience in advertising and communications.

He started his career in account management, moved to his first role in strategic planning in the year 2000, and has been a planner for global and local blue-chip brands ever since. That being said, over the years his work has spanned diverse categories such as F&B, Nutrition, Automobiles, Technology, and Durables, among others; and he is a trusted advisor to many of our clients and colleagues.

With over two decades of HR experience, Mahendru has also been a key member of the Wunderman Thompson leadership team, partnering with senior stakeholders to provide overall people and culture leadership to the organization, and helping the organization meet its strategic goals.

She previously led the People function at McCann Worldgroup, Walmart India, and STAR India, besides actively representing the Indian market in Global Diversity Coalitions & APAC Women Leadership groups in her various corporate assignments.

Sharing her views on the new leadership appointments, Babita Baruah, CEO, VML India, expressed her enthusiasm about the new leadership team and said-

“Our commitment is to deliver world-class solutions to our clients, and with the expertise and leadership of our newly appointed team, we are well-positioned to take VML India to a new level and continue driving innovation in the dynamic Indian market.”