Ad World Showdown 2023

Ankoor Dasguupta

Trained from Dale Carnegie in Mentoring to Develop Talent, a CMO Council Member, an Advisory Board -Marketing Department at ISBR Business School, Ankoor is a marketing practitioner, a coach, a knowledge manager, a team builder, a thought-leader, an avid writer with more than 50 published articles and has his guest column with Businessworld , Reputation Today and CEO Worldwide: speaker and jury in multiple esteemed forums including reputed B-Schools.

Recognized by DMA Asia as a marketing Ace. A Marketing & Communications practitioner, advocate of social impact, driven by kaizen, Ankoor believes in the power of Energy and Energize while bringing to the table a pedigree of 23 years with a rare combination experience across the spectrum of media – print, digital, mobile, event productions & successful pilot projects. Worked across functions – ad operations, business operations & strategy, content, brand strategy, sales, events, media planning & buying and spearheading P&L. Ankoor has been part of six Sigma Green Belt project and also worked in cross functional roles with – MNCs, media conglomerates and start-ups. Ankoor has been part of the core pilot team of launching and scaling International IPs such as ad:tech, iMedia Summits, Modern Marketing Summit and TechCrunch events in India. Ankoor has directed and enabled the winning of multiple pitches while actively involved in overall and tactical strategy. Ankoor is POSH Certified and has been selected to be part of core Committee for POSH at two organizations during his work tenure till now. Ankoor is an active speaker and jury member at multiple esteemed marketing and advertising forums.

Accomplished marketing professional with over 16 years of experience in financial services. Expertise in designing marketing strategy, and conceptualizing creative, and business-intelligence driven campaigns. Leveraging Video, Voice, and Vernacular to communicate with India and Bharat. Building the organization brand at scale in the age of digital. Instinctive people engagement skills in fostering business relationships with leading professionals, and artistes, coupled with the ability to coordinate across all levels and functions of management. Experience in marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, product development, P&L management, business development in AMCs, NBFC, general and life insurance industry.

Jahid Ahmed

An astute Digital Marketing professional with over 16 years of experience in the BFSI sector. He has been instrumental in institutionalising Data driven Digital Campaigns, Mar-Tech and Transformation set ups across various BFSI organisations.

One of the early adopters of Content led marketing, he has used content strategies to drive brand salience and consideration. Currently heading Digital, Content and Social media Marketing at HDFC Bank where he looks after Online Acquisition ,Website Growth hack, Analytics, Social Media and Content marketing.

His Digital Mantra is to drive hyper personalised relevance in customer’s digital journey by seamlessly weaving Channel Orchestration, Design and Tech innovation

Yogin Vora

Vishesh Sharma

A FinTech Marketeer, striving to make financial ecosystem inclusive for millennials!
“My success lies in turning cost centers into revenue centers for organizations and building organic
ecosystems, which deliver not just sustainable but also scalable business growth,” says Vishesh
Sharma who has recently joined Bajaj Financial Securities as its first Chief Marketing Officer.
Vishesh belongs to a rare breed of professionals with a journalistic background who have
transcended the world of Finance and entered the highest echelons of Marketing. Previously, he was
the Chief Marketing officer at Ashika Group, India’s leading diversified financial services group with
four key business verticals including Retail Broking, Institutional Broking, Startup Funding and Global
Family Office Services.
Vishesh’s experience cuts across diverse marketing disciplines, including brand communication,
content marketing, corporate communications, reputation management, product marketing, public
affairs, and financial education. He started his professional career with The Hindu, and continued his
journey with renowned publications, including Dalal Street Investment Journal and Progressive
Media Group. Thereafter, Vishesh switched to the corporate world and worked with reputed
companies including Sharekhan by BNP Paribas and Angel One before joining Ashika Group.
Throughout his career, Vishesh has been recognized for his remarkable professional
accomplishments. In 2020, he was named Content Marketer 40u40 by Exchange for Media and the
Marketing Leader of the Year in the BFSI segment by Nasscom. A year later, he was honored as the
Rising Media Star by Best Media Info, Corporate Communications Person of the Year by AdGully, and
40u40 PR Professional by Reputation Today. He won Gold at Inkspell awards under the category of
Content Marketing Professional 2021. Vishesh was also bestowed with Excellence in PR award by
Adgully under their Leader 2.0 awards in 2022 and was also felicitated by World Marketing Congress

Prasad Pimple

Prasad 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 19 years of experience in Digital business, brand & product management, customer acquisition, customer life cycle management, strategy, business planning and research across insurance, telecom, banking and engineering sectors.

Prior to Kotak Life, Prasad has worked in HDFC Life, Tata Docomo, Vodafone, ICICI Bank & Kotak Mahindra Bank.

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

Samir Vora

Samir Vora is the Chief Marketing Officer at
VerSe Innovation. Samir is responsible for
leading all marketing operations including
brand, ATL communication, corporate
communication, performance marketing,
and social media across all of the VerSe
brands – Josh, Dailyhunt, Public Vibe and
One India.
In his career spanning over 20 years, Samir
has specialized in marketing, sales, and
market development across industries like
finance, media, and technology.
Prior to joining VerSe Innovation, Samir was
the Vice President for Star Sports where he was instrumental in launching
regional sports channels across India with a special focus on marketing,
content, and distribution. He has also led premier sports and the channel’s
football portfolio. Under Samir’s leadership, Star Sports witnessed the
highest ever ratings for Hero ISL and massive digital traction for the sport.
Within the Star family, Samir has also led the brand for Star Plus and has
played a significant role in reinstalling the channel as the no. 1 GEC of the
country.
Samir has also worked in the financial sector with companies like Birla Sun
Life and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance where he was responsible for direct
marketing, digital marketing, and distribution marketing. He started his
career as a client servicing manager at JWT.
Samir holds an MBA in marketing from Narsee Monjee Institute of
Management Studies, and is an alumnus of University of Mumbai

Sunder Venketraman

Sharmila Sandeep

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.

Shonali Shetty

Saugata Bagchi

Rituraj Bidwai