Aditya was born in a military family, where he moved homes every couple of years. The constant travelling, new places and living in villages and towns across the country helped him develop a deep sense of empathy and an appreciation of culture at a young age.
These early influences translated into advertising as a career choice. He started his journey with the erstwhile Mudra in 2003 as a strategic planner, taking on various responsibilities over the years including that of the Chief Strategy Officer, a role in which he helped shape India’s most successful independent advertising agency into an Omnicom-owned integrated marketing communications group. As the CEO of Omnicom Advertising Group, he brings together the power of three world-class creative networks DDB, TBWA and BBDO in India.
He has overseen globally recognized Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives like ‘The Phyllis Project’ that builds and develops a community of women leaders. The project has been successfully scaled to Asia and will be applied to other global markets in the coming year. Another marque initiative ‘Open Pride’ focuses on respectful representation in creative work and an inclusive work environment for the LGBTQIA+ community & allies. In line with this ethos, the DDB Mudra Group, offers medical insurance to same sex & live-in partners and best-in-class paternity leave to enable equal parenting.
Building on Omnicom’s reputation as the most effective creative network in the world, Aditya has represented India in global and national forums — most recently on the Cannes Creative Effectiveness jury in 2023 and as jury president for the category at Spikes 2024. As a strategist and agency head, he’s been awarded at Cannes, WARC, D&AD, Spikes Asia and Effie across categories including a Gold at Cannes for Audience Insight and Creative Strategy.
Aditya graduated with honors in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and is a gold medalist from MICA, Ahmedabad. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and enjoys seeing the world afresh through the eyes of his young son.