DOD 2025
Drivers of Digital Awards and Summit

Imran Qadri

Imran Qadri heads Marketing & PR for the iconic Harley-Davidson brand in Asia Emerging Markets & India region. He is based out of Bangkok, Thailand. He has been associated with Harley-Davidson since April 2019. Apart from India, he oversees Marketing for Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore), South Korea, Taiwan & Hong Kong as well. He has 14 years of Marketing work experience with brands like Hero Honda, Hero MotoCorp, Nissan & H-D. He has donned several hats in his past roles ranging from Marketing Communications, Brand Management, Product Marketing, Category Management, Media Planning & Regional Marketing. He has led teams and agencies deliver with award winning campaigns, launches & content. Recently he was adjudged among Top 40 Nationwide Experts declared by Business Mint for 2022. He was also part of Top 50 Marketing and Communication Leaders in India in 2021 as adjudged by White Page International and among Top 100 in Asia for 2022. He was one of the Social Samosa Top 40 Marketers for the batch of 2019-20 and among Top 25 Content Disruptors in India in 2020 declared by Vidsaga.com. He has been a jury member with many credible advertising & communication forums. An MBA in Marketing from FORE School of Management, Delhi, Imran has a B.E. Mechanical degree from MSRIT, Bangalore, apart from executive leadership & digital marketing certifications from Vanderbilt University & IIM Lucknow, respectively. He is a certified Sports car instructor and has a flair for writing.

Prasad Pimple

Prasad stands for Pragmatic, ROI driven, Analytical, Segmentation & Automation focused Digital way of doing business. He is a firm believer in the process of ideation – experimentation – learning fast – succeeding faster & scaling up cheap. A Chemical Engineer from UDCT & MBA from JBIMS, Prasad has 16+ years of experience in brand & product management, customer acquisition, customer life cycle management, strategy, business planning and research across insurance, telecom, banking and engineering sectors. Prior to HDFC Life, Prasad has worked in Tata Docomo, Vodafone, ICICI Bank & Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Shrishail Deshnur

Shrishail is a marketing professional with over 18 years of experience across categories of consumer products, financial services and pharma.Currently, he heads the consumer marketing function at Cipla and is instrumental in spearheading the company’s largest consumer awareness initiative.In his previous stint, he was heading the marketing function for the stationery business at Pidilite. Earlier in his career, he has worked with Berger paints, ICICI Prudential, MetLife, and Kotak Life.Shrishail is a foodie and a self-proclaimed movie critic. He loves to drive and play cricket with his 9-year-old son during his free time.

Piali Dasgupta Surendran

Amitabh Biswas

Over the last 18 years, Amitabh Biswas has worked in the field of Brand Management and Business Consultancy across Fortune 100 companies to shuddh Desi companies in Advertising, Telecom and Television. He has practiced, developed and innovated across every specialization of Marketing Communications. With a deep first-hand insight of Indian consumers ranging from BPL to global icons, he has seen up close how brands are built, nurtured and disrupted to catapult into newer orbits. A regular jury member for Indian and International Content and Marketing Awards competitions, he also co-founded a startup manufacturing India’s first street-legal chopper motorcycles.

Sharmila Sandeep

An MBA in Marketing from PSG Institute of Management. Also holds M.A & M.Phil in Sociology. Sharmila joined Saint-Gobain -Gyproc in 2021 as the Head of Marketing.

Sharmila has 18yrs of Brand and Marketing experience across various industries. Prior to Saint-Gobain, Sharmila led marketing and product management at ICICI Bank, Bisleri, Pidilite, Hatsun Agro, Radio Mirchi & Future group retail. Sharmila has vivid interest and acquired skills in numerous handicrafts, conducts workshops and loves being a swimming coach. She unwinds by watching movies and social networking.

Neelima Burra

Neelima Burra is the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Luminous Power Technologies. At Luminous, she is steering the company onto strategic innovation and business transformation pathway for propelling the organisation to greater market dominance in the energy space. In a career spanning over 20 years, Neelima has emerged as the leading voice in Indian business landscape. She has been recognized as a top influential women leader in India by Femina as well as amongst the 100 Most Influential Marketing Leaders by the World Marketing Congress.

Neelima has consistently driven organisations towards business excellence in diverse sectors, including Hospitality, FMCG, IT & Consumer Electronics, OTC, and Consumer Durables. Her extensive experience encompasses both the Indian market and specific markets across Asia. Before joining Luminous, she was at the Oberoi Group, as EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, successfully leading its business revival amidst Covid-19 challenges. She was also the Co-founder of Ganymede Business Ventures, spearheading the world’s largest ‘Food on Street’ service chain. Her previous experiences include managing leadership positions and key roles in HP, Cargill, Usha International, Whirlpool Corp and Britannia.

With her profound understanding of strategy, marketing, sales, and operations within the consumer goods space and services industry, Neelima is playing a pivotal role in transforming the brand while driving growth and profitability. With sustainability being a subject close to her heart, she is known driving organizational restructuring and for implementing ROI-driven conscious business strategies.

Beyond her professional achievements, Neelima nurtures a deep passion for gardening and embarks on solo travel adventures. Her love for food, particularly street food, inspired her to launch her own food tech startup. As a mother to a daughter and proud owner of two delightful pet dogs named Bruno and Kiro, she finds immense joy and fulfilment in nurturing her loved ones.

Madhumita Phukan

Madhumita Phukan is a Marketing, PR and Corporate Communications professional with over 19 years of experience in various industry verticals. Madhumita is currently working with Tech Mahindra as the Global Marketing Head for AI Businesses. Prior to Tech Mahindra, she worked with Concentrix as Associate Director, Marketing and with IBM as a Brand & Communications Leader – India/South Asia for Global Technology Services Client Innovation Centres, Labs, Social Media, CSR, Crisis Management.
She is an alumnus of MICA, IIT Delhi Management School, Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania, USA), Amity School of Communications and Guwahati University. Besides, she is also an independent Blogger. She loves to write about her personal experiences, short stories, different social issues, opinion articles and review various products and services. Many of Madhumita’s blogs, poems, articles and stories have been published in different portals and publications e.g, Women’s Era, Business World, Assam Tribune, The Sentinel, StoryMirror, BeyondClassrooms etc.
Madhumita won many pan India Blogging Awards, and she was among the TOP 5 Bloggers in India in WIN 2015 and also, she won National Award in All India Cartoon Contest, 2003.

Sudeep Chawla

Sudeep is passionate about storytelling, building brands & categories and perfecting human connections. He has spent the last 17 years in various sales and marketing roles in Cadbury/ Mondelez and Pidilite, both being companies with incredible brand-building capabilities. This combination also makes him a rare marketer to have built brands in B2C as well as B2B space. He is passionate about everything that’s related to marketing and people. He is also a Marketing educator who conducts a crash course titled “Science behind the art of advertising” at GrowthSchool where he unpacks frameworks to create effective & measurable brand campaigns. His course has added value to around 2000+ industry professionals, marketing enthusiasts and students thus far. He also hosts a marketing podcast titled “CoBB -Conversations over Business of Brands” with his ex-colleague from Mondelez where they try to dispel myths & misinformation related to marketing

Gaurav Soni

An energetic result oriented Brand, Media and Marketing Strategy enthusiast with over 15 years of experience in leading media organisations. Enjoy conceptualizing & executing innovative integration concepts via a creative, dynamic, & challenging mix of media platforms.

Worked extensively with advertising and media agencies on multimedia marketing approach and consumer and trade centric brand connect advertising solutions.

Specialties:
Corporate Communication, Brand Strategy, Product Marketing, Media strategy, Media Planning/Buying, 360 degree marketing campaign, Pricing, Innovation, Account Planning, Agency Handling, Sales Planning, Research, Customer Insights, Data Analysis, Product Marketing, Negotiations & associations, Team management and development

Leverage 4Cs (Category, Competition, Customer & Consumer) insights and analysis to drive better effectiveness and efficiency

Mayank Prabhakar

A Core Business leader with a Deep understanding of the products, marketing, Sales & consumer.. He is called as the “Go Getter” who deals in hardcore numbers and assure that every Penny spends attributes to a Business goal & a value for consumer. A Highly Agile Marketer with great ability to adapt with the changing trends of Digital Marketing.
He started his carrier at the age of 22 and assured that he has a deep hands on experience across Business lifecycle & he acquired a great experience in across domains like:
> Product development & Management, Brand Building, Digital Marketing, Establishing Ecommerce & D2C Businesses, Content & Influencer Marketing, Consumer Acquisition & Retention, Leadership Skills with Team Management. A complete Entrepreneur stints.

In this passionate 18yrs of professional journey, he has been rewarded with multiple excellence awards in every organization worked in;
 One97 (paytm) : Best Sales person of the year
 Times of India: Chairman Excellence award
 Cheil/Samung: Most innovative idea person, recognized globally.,
And have recently received the prestigious award of Business world marketer 40under40.

An extra ordinary individual with a blended experience of working in a Startup , Leading Media Houses , Aggressive & Innovative Media Agencies , leading Brand Side of a highly competitive market of smartphones, he has gained & adapted an diversified approach, growth Path & organization cultures.
With such a great Mix of Sales, products & marketing he has worked with over 70 Brands & 500+ successful marketing campaigns.
He is now in working with vivo India Pvt Limited as General Manager, Head of Digital Marketing , which is a market Leader is the Smartphone Industry. Assuring that the brand is scaling to New heights in the Era of Digital Marketing wherein the consumer is the king & brand Serves the best value to consumer & its Partners.

Nikhil Bharadwaj

Nikhil Bharadwaj is the Head of Corporate Communications at Bajaj
Allianz General Insurance for more than 7 years now. Apart from
handling media relations for the company, he is responsible for aligning
the communication strategy (both internal and external) with the
business objective. He acts as a communications advisor for senior
management and all the departments to devise a long term strategy
that effectively communicates the brand story. His aim is to ensure
positive brand visibility across all stakeholders by not just producing the
right content, but also by adopting an agile approach in line with the
changing communications environment.
Nikhil started his career with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance as a Management Trainee in 2006
and since then has worked across various profiles. With more than 17 years in the General
Insurance industry, Nikhil is a seasoned professional with extensive sales experience in
Bancassurance and was the Head of Online Sales as well, prior to joining the Corporate
Communications Team of the company.
Nikhil has done PGDM in Marketing & ERP from IMDR Pune, MDP in Digital & Social Media
Marketing from IIM Bangalore and is also a Licentiate in General Insurance. He has authored
various thought pieces on corporate communications in renowned publications and has been
often called to interact with young students by various academic institutions.

Kavita Jagtiani

Ms. Kavita Jagtiani is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and she is responsible for the development and implementation of marketing strategies across all product categories and channels, and driving the organisation to new heights. At L&T Finance, she leads the marketing, brand, corporate communications, digital marketing and consumer research function.

She has a proven track record in strategic planning, category creation, innovation, consumer insights, in-market brand activation and integrated marketing campaigns.

Ms. Jagtiani has over two decades of experience in brand building and marketing. Prior to joining L&T Finance, she was serving as the Marketing Chief – South Asia, Middle East, Africa & CIS at Pidilite Industries. She has also held various leadership roles at leading companies including Pidilite Industries, General Mills, and ICICI Bank.

Jagtiani holds a Master’s Degree in Business/Commerce from University of Mumbai and she has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management in Marketing from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education.

She also holds a ‘Digital Strategies for Business’ certification from Columbia University, New York and Bachelor’s Degree in Business/Commerce from University of Mumbai.

Aditya Menon

Ajey Maharaj

Ajey Maharaj leads Corporate Communications and PR at Fortis Healthcare Ltd, leveraging over 30 years of experience in Corporate Communications and Marketing Communications. His expertise extends to internal and external communications, crisis management, media engagement, public advocacy, CSR, and building corporate reputation. Ajey is known for his exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to develop collaborative relationships, alongside strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.

His tenure in corporate communications has been decorated with several accolades, including the ‘Corporate Communications Professional of the Year 2021’ and ‘Top 100 Influential Game Changer’s award’ for multiple years ( 2021, 2022 and 2023) from Exchange4media and Business World Group. He also received the ‘PRO of the Year Award 2009’ from the Media Federation of India and the ‘Media Corporate Communications Man of the Year 2010-11’ from The Institute of Economic Studies.

At Fortis Healthcare, Ajey’s role encompasses strategic media and PR planning, integrated communication execution, enhancing corporate image, and crisis management. Additionally, Ajey contributes his expertise as a board member to several Fortis entities, including the Fortis CSR Foundation, Fortis HealthStaff Limited, Malar Stars Medicare, Fortis Health Management (East) Limited, and Fortis Cancer Care Limited.

Before joining Fortis, Ajey held significant positions in notable organizations such as Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited, Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd., Reliance Energy Limited, Asea Brown Boveri Ltd., and Steel Authority Of India Limited. His academic qualifications include a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from AIMA, New Delhi, Bachelor of Arts from Hindu College, University of Delhi and completed his AISSCE at Air Force Bal Bharti School, Lodi Road, New Delhi.

In addition to his professional achievements, Ajey is an accomplished athlete, having represented India in basketball at various master international events and participating in International Cricket Sixes Tournaments. His athletic accomplishments complement his dynamic corporate communications career, where he has established a legacy of robust media relations and corporate brand enhancement.

Amiya Swarup

Amiya Swarup Heads Marketing Advisory and is Partner for Ernst & Young. He has nearly two decades of experience in fostering collaboration within the intricate web of marketers, media agencies, martech partners, and media houses, building a better working world

Anshuman Chkravarty

Balaaji Vaidyanathan

Balaji is an integrated marketing communication professional with over 16 years of extensive experience in building brands for both global and Indian companies.

In his current role as Marketing Director, CEEMEA for Franklin Templeton, Balaji is responsible for marketing strategy and building brand SOV for the CEEMEA region. The region covers over 20 countries across Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa and focuses both on institutional and retail businesses.

Prior to this role, Balaji was Deputy Head – Marketing for Franklin Templeton India and was responsible for leading all key brand initiatives. Balaji has been one of the early adopters of leveraging gamification, video content and storytelling in the mutual fund industry to promote investor education in the online space. His deep understanding of consumer marketing and customer lifecycle journeys have won him multiple awards in India and globally across creativity, content, innovation and effectiveness. Very recently, he was conferred with the citation of “Marketing Influencer of the Year” by DMA Asia at the 2018 DMA Asia Echo Awards.

Bhaskar Majumdar

Charu Malhotra

Expertise in Brand Rejuvenation and brand transformation | 20 years of success in conceiving, conceptualizing & implementing brand strategy to fuel market presence & drive revenue |voracious appetite for triggering brand growth with marketing campaigns

Jiteen Aggarwal

Karan Sabde

Kavita Vyas

Rohit Gulati

Rohit brings under two decades of diverse Sales , Marketing, Strategy and Commercial Leadership Experience ( P&L responsibilities ) in the Healthcare industry ( Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices ) working across therapy areas like Orthopaedics , Ophthalmology , Infusion Therapy & Endoscopy across India and Subcontinent . He is currently the Director Marketing – India & South Asia for Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision in India . He is part of the Vision Care India LT & Regional Marketing Council.

Sachin Vashishtha

Amitesh Jasrotia

Shweta Srivastava

Vipul Mathur