Meet Our Speakers

Speaker

Dissara Udomdej (Ohm)

CEO & Founder, Yell Worldwide

Ohm Dissara Udomdej is the Founder and CEO of YELL Worldwide, as well as the creator of Thailand’s first advertising agency network. Under his leadership, YELL has expanded its presence from Southeast Asia to the Chinese market as Thailand's first advertising agency operating across 8 major cities.

With an in-depth business presence in core regions, YELL supports brands seeking to enter and grow across ASEAN markets. With nearly two decades of experience in advertising and creative marketing, he combines entrepreneurial leadership, creative thinking, and practical expertise in brand strategy and cross-border business expansion. He has served as a juror, speaker, coach, and mentor in the international industry, contributing to the development of creative talent and the advancement of the advertising field. Today, he is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in Asia’s creative marketing sector.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Naved Qureshi

Business Head, Southeast Asia, Voxxy Media

Naved Qureshi has spent 20 years chasing one question: Where does consumer attention move next? His career has taken him across FMCG, retail, banking and beverage alcohol – and today, into the creator economy.

As Business Head, Southeast Asia at Voxxy Media, Naved works with brands to move beyond one-off influencer activity and build creator-led growth systems that connect culture, communities and commerce. Previously, he was Marketing & Digital Lead, Southeast Asia at Diageo, leading integrated marketing and digital transformation across multiple markets. From launching a bank in India to building brands in fiercely competitive categories, Naved has consistently worked where brand, content and commercial growth meet. His point of view is simple: creator-led marketing only works when it is culturally true, operationally scalable and commercially provable.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Aneek Ahmed

Founder of The Outwit Company & The Certified Strategic Marketer Platform.

A brand strategist with 30 years across Asia and Europe. His career spans eight countries and both sides of the table — creative agencies and client-side — most recently in director-level brand roles across Asia and Europe for The Coca-Cola Company handling billion dollar brands with multi-million dollar budgets.

That mix is the point. He builds strategy sharp enough to matter and practical enough to execute — the rare ability to carry an idea from the strategy deck to what a shopper actually meets. Outwit is built around depth, not headcount: one senior strategist on the problem, and a whole bunch of connected experts bespoke to a client brief.

Brands shaped: Coca-Cola · Sprite · HSBC · P&G · GSK · Arla · VELUX · MOMO · Minute Maid

Background across: Coca-Cola, Grey / MediaCom. Lowe / Initiative in Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China, European Markets and the Middle East.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Farah Mehdi

Client Partner, CSAA: Consumer Business – TikTok (ByteDance)

Farah Mehdi is a regional business leader at TikTok, driving growth and partnerships with CPG businesses. She works with brands and agencies to unlock the power of TikTok to build brands, connect with communities and drive business results. Farah is passionate about helping brands move at the speed of culture and turn creativity into measurable growth.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Danny Advani

Head of Content & Business – Dot Media

Danny finds his deepest satisfaction in the moment where culture and brands collide — and something genuinely new enters the internet. That instinct has quietly shaped some of India’s most awarded digital work over the past 14 years.

Recognised as Social Samosa’s 40 Under 40 in 2026 and CMO Asia’s Most Influential Digital Marketer in 2025, Danny has spent his career as a growth strategist and made the vertical of creator economy from a line item into a revenue engine. At Only Much Louder, the influencer vertical he led contributed 35% of the organisation’s total revenue — while he maintained team attrition below 3%, in an industry where 25% is considered normal. His campaign for Tata Capital won the SAMMIE for Best Use of Creators. His work for Maybelline New York — Fit Me As I Am — won the E4M Best Product Launch Campaign.

Together with the E4M for Influencer Marketing Agency of the Year and wins at Maddies and Screenage, his campaigns for Google, YouTube, Netflix India, HUL, and Philips have quietly accumulated a body of work the industry has repeatedly chosen to recognise. As Head of Content & Business Strategy at Dot Media, he is currently building three new verticals — Content backed by creators, IP and storytelling and creator-first branded content — each projected to contribute meaningfully to the agency’s topline within the year.

Over his career he has produced over 500 films across TVC, DVC, social, and platform-first formats for more than 50 brands spanning FMCG, D2C, tech, finance, and OTT. His belief is simple: the format should follow the idea. And the idea should always find the cultural white space a brand can own before anyone else does.

Danny is known for building teams that don’t leave and clients that keep coming back. He is trying to build an industry he is proud of.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Sundar Swaminathan

Marketing Science Advisor, Ex Head of Global Brand and International Marketing Science at Uber

Sundar is a Marketing Science Advisor helping CMOs prove the ROI of their Marketing Investments across the entire funnel. Most of his experience was at Uber where he built various of their Marketing Science teams including their first ever Brand Marketing Science program. After that, he spent years at Startups and Scaleups in both FTE and Advisory positions.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Oliver Atkinson

Director of Narrative Strategy – Casual Films

Oliver Atkinson is Director of Narrative Strategy at Casual, a brand storytelling film company working with clients worldwide. He helps organisations make complex, rational propositions feel human without giving up credibility.

He created StoryPulse, an approach that starts with the story the audience is already telling themselves, then shapes the brand narrative to sit inside it, so the brand becomes part of that story rather than an interruption to it. He also works on proving storytelling effectiveness physiologically: measuring how immersed an audience genuinely is in the moment, rather than what they report afterwards.

His work draws on narrative psychology, behavioural science and neuroscience, applied across brand strategy, creative and client pitches. He speaks regularly on storytelling and creative effectiveness, and co-hosts The Audience Connection, a podcast about attention, persuasion and narrative.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Ovais Ahamed

Founder of Senator We Run Ads

Ovais is the founder of Senator We Run Ads – A performance Marketing agency and Self Learning Platform.

He is a Performance Marketing & Programmatic Advertising expert with 12 years of experience. Worked with some of the biggest brands, Agencies and AdTech companies in GCC & Germany like Google, Nissan, SkyNews Arabia, Delivery Hero, Talabat, Foodpanda and many more.

Ovais also creates content related to Digital Marketing strategy and Marketing technology and has more than 285K subscribers on YouTube, 100K+ learners on uDemy with some bestseller digital marketing courses.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Laurent Thevenet

Head of Creative Tech APAC, Publicis Groupe

Laurent Thevenet is a creative technology leader working at the intersection of art, data, design, and engineering. Over the last 25 years, he has worked across tech startups and creative agencies, delivering large-scale digital campaigns, products, platforms, and physical experiences across APAC for brands including Nike, Google, Netflix, YouTube, Heineken, McDonald’s, Suncorp, Cathay Pacific, and AXA.

Laurent currently helps drive Publicis Groupe’s AI enablement agenda across APAC, while leading a regional collective of 30+ hybrid talents delivering frontier creative technology work for Publicis Groupe clients. He remains an active practitioner across emerging technologies, with a constant focus on turning new possibilities into practical creative solutions for teams and clients.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Kerem Gorkem Orhan

Client Partner, South Asia and Turkey – TikTok (ByteDance)

As Client Partner at TikTok, Kerem works with brands and agencies across Finance, Telco, Retail, and Auto industries in Turkey and South Asia to unlock growth through TikTok.

With 10+ years of experience across TikTok, Google, and Deloitte, he brings a strong perspective on digital marketing, strategic partnerships, and business growth, helping brands turn changing consumer behaviours into meaningful business outcomes.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Geet Nazir

Managing Director, India

Geet Nazir is the Managing Director of Landor India, one of the world’s leading brand transformation consultancies. With 23+ years of experience across advertising, marketing, brand strategy and design, spanning Mumbai and New York, she has built a career around helping businesses turn brand ambition into meaningful business impact.

As MD, Geet leads Landor’s India business, bringing together strategy, creativity and commercial thinking to help organisations navigate their most consequential brand challenges — from business and portfolio transformation to positioning, architecture, naming, identity, packaging and experience. She has led complex brand programmes for leading Indian and global organisations.

Prior to Landor, Geet was Managing Director of Conran Design Group in India, where she led the Mumbai operation and partnered with ambitious organisations looking to transform how they were understood, experienced and valued. Her career spans both client and agency environments, including Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj), Publicis Capital and global lifestyle brands such as Diesel Jeans and Jean Claude Biguine. Her experience across Mumbai and New York, and across client, agency and business leadership roles, has given her a broad perspective on how brands are built, transformed and made commercially relevant.

Beyond her leadership role, Geet is an active contributor to the brand and design community. She is a speaker on brand transformation, design, leadership, marketing, culture and the future of brands, and regularly participates in industry forums and conversations. She also serves on the jury of leading industry awards, bringing her perspective on creativity, effectiveness and the evolving role of brand in business. She is passionate about developing the next generation of brand and creative leaders and actively mentors young professionals and emerging talent.

An engineer by training, Geet holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics Engineering from VIT, Pune and completed her Masters from Boston University. The combination has shaped her approach throughout her career: rigorous about the business problem, curious about people and culture, and ambitious about the creative answer.

Geet believes the role of brand has fundamentally changed. The strongest brands today do more than communicate what a business stands for — they create clarity, sharpen differentiation, command value and give businesses the confidence to grow.

Speaker

Ronita Mukerjee

Executive Client Director, India
APAC Healthcare Practice Lead, Landor India

Ronita Mukerjee is a senior brand and business leader at Landor, where she works with organizations on some of their biggest brand and business questions such as - How many brands are too many? What if I enter a new category? Am I future ready? Is design really going to impact my business? Why should I care about culture? She brings together a deep understanding of business needs, strategy, consumer insights and design to solve complex brand challenges.

She currently leads Landor’s APAC Healthcare practice in India, and has worked across healthcare, FMCG, consumer technology, hospitality, fintech, retail and IT services. Her experience covers brand transformation, positioning, architecture, identity, packaging and customer experience, often helping businesses navigate change to stay relevant and competitive. Over the years, Ronita has partnered with organizations including Mahindra, Tata, Abbott, Haleon, Diageo and Google. Some of the work she has led has also gone on to win industry recognition, including at Transform Asia and the Kyoorius Design Awards.

She enjoys the messy bits of brand building - define the real problem, uncover consumer insights, and turn those insights into actionable business recommendations. Her early career in primary market research gave her a close-up view of Indian consumers, from rural markets to large cities. That consumer lens continues to shape the way she thinks about brands, creativity and business.

Jury & Speaking

Ronita has served as a jury member for the afaqs! Digies Awards and regularly speaks to students, marketers, business leaders and creative communities. Ronita has spoken at platforms including The Himalayan Times BrandFest, Brand Magic Mauritius, Miami Ad School India, ISB&M, PUMBA and KJ Somaiya. She is a passionate evangelist for brands and their power to impact business, and speaks widely about consumer behavior, creativity, branding in healthcare, culture at work, brand leadership and the impact of AI on the future of brands.

Mentorship

A WPP Stella mentor, Ronita also spends time coaching young women leaders navigate careers in the brand and creative industry.

Speaker

Varun Khiatani

Co-Founder - Mktgstack

Varun Khiatani is the co-founder of mktgstack, a marketing agency built as a living example of what a reorganised operating system for creativity can look like in the AI era. mktgstack was designed from the ground up to function as an AI-native service business, rethinking how talent, workflows, authority, and creative output are structured inside an agency model.

In parallel, Varun serves as the AI Practice Lead at The Talented Grid of Companies, where he helps build workflows, AI systems, and upskills teams across disciplines for what modern marketing in the AI era needs to look like.

In 2023, he worked on India’s first end-to-end AI-generated advertisement, marking an early shift toward fully AI-native creative production. A Cannes-winning creative, Varun has led campaigns for global and Indian brands including Meta, Google, Swiggy, and Myntra. His work has been recognised across major award platforms including Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, Effies, and Kyoorius, reflecting both creative excellence and effectiveness.

Beyond campaigns, he builds internal AI tools and systems specifically for agencies, helping them transition from AI adoption to AI reorganisation by redesigning workflows, redistributing authority, and embedding operating system thinking into creative businesses. Varun is also Adjunct Faculty at the Mudra Institute of Communications, where he teaches full-time students about advertising, creativity, and AI, bridging academic thinking with industry transformation.

Known for his systems-led and execution-grounded perspective, he speaks about the structural realities facing creative organisations and the leadership shifts required to remain competitive in an accelerating landscape.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Namrata Chawla

Co-Founder - Mktgstack

Namrata is the co-founder of mktgstack, a marketing agency built as a living example of an AI-reorganised operating system for creativity. At mktgstack, she leads the intersection of business strategy, content systems, and distribution, ensuring that creative output translates into measurable growth.

Her path into the industry has been unconventional. Instead of growing inside legacy agency structures, she built her experience working directly with founders on revenue, performance marketing, and distribution. This grounding allows her to approach creativity not just as storytelling, but as a business lever.

At Talented, she played a key role in shaping the agency’s content culture, leading content strategy and AI-native distribution experiments, including AI avatar-led accounts designed to scale reach and engagement.

Alongside her professional work, she built a business-focused content platform from zero to over 43,000 followers, runs founder-led communities and events across Mumbai and India, and is a recurring panellist at WTF, one of India’s leading entrepreneurship platforms.

As both a founder and a creator, she integrates AI deeply into her workflow, using it as infrastructure to move faster, experiment more, and build with leverage. She brings a calm, execution-first lens to conversations about how AI is reshaping creative systems and business growth.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Prateek Suri

AVP Marketing, Creative Head - Swiggy

18 years of creative concept, strategy and execution experience in India's top advertising agencies and brands. Awarded by international and national award shows including spikes, effies, Jay chiat, kyoorious, Cannes, Abbys and more. Head of Creative and AVP marketing at Swiggy. Metal head. Mountain dweller.

Ex- Ola Electric, OYO, McCann, Ogilvy.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Himanish Ashar

Executive Creative Director - Innovation,
Apollo 11 Innovation Lab (Leo Burnett India)

Himanish Ashar, now an Executive Creative Director at Leo, Mumbai, is a force in modern advertising, blending wit, tech, and social consciousness to create compelling campaigns. Known for standout projects like #PUMADive and Gatorade’s Turf Finder, Ashar’s work celebrates sports culture, internet, gaming, and tech while pushing creative boundaries.

His recent campaigns embody this philosophy - #PUMADive, for instance, was a clever use of AI to maximize brand exposure during the 2023 Cricket World Cup, a World Cup where PUMA wasn’t even an official sponsor. Similarly, Gatorade’s Turf Finder, powered by Google Maps, uses data and tech to unlock places to play in bustling urban cities, swiftly converting them into inclusive playgrounds for all.

Ashar also leads Apollo 11, Leo, Mumbai’s Innovation Lab - a specialized division of the agency for young people with backgrounds in aerospace engineering, architecture, even environmental science, designed to solve human and brand problems using scientific methodologies. This lab fosters creative solutions by merging tech, science, and storytelling to address real-world issues and create social impact.

With multiple awards under his belt, including a Cannes Grand Prix for “The Missing Chapter,” India’s first Innovation Lion with “Roads That Honk” multiple D&ADs, One Shows, Clios, Spikes Asia and LIAs, Ashar is not only part of advertising’s new generation, he’s shaping it. Looking ahead, he remains dedicated to projects that combine bold storytelling, humor, and purpose, striving to leave a lasting impact on both his industry and the communities his work touches.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Gaurav Ramdev

Head of Marketing, India & South Asia, Visa

Current Position and Responsibilities

Gaurav Ramdev joined Visa as Head of Marketing to play a pivotal role in strengthening the brand and marketing efforts across the ecosystem in India and South Asia. His focus is on brand building and customer engagement and accelerating Visa’s growth by reinforcing the brand’s position as a trusted partner delivering innovative payment solutions.

Previous Positions

An award-winning marketer with 19 years primarily across CPG and Fintech, Gaurav has previously led marketing at Coca-Cola INSA and Razorpay. He joined Visa from Protean e-Gov Technologies where he was the Chief Growth & Marketing Officer and built the marketing function from scratch, besides leading a successful public listing and D2C growth operations.

Other Information

He completed his B.Tech in Electronics & Communications from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and an MBA in Sales and Marketing from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management. He is an F1 enthusiast, a music buff and an avid traveler with a curious mind passionate about marketing. He is based in Mumbai with his wife Shweta - a capital markets professional.

Speaker

Scott Wegener

Head of Asia Pacific, Tripadvisor

Scott Wegener is Head of Asia Pacific for Tripadvisor. Based in Queensland, Australia. Scott leads the team responsible for its Media, Hospitality Solutions & Content Solutions business in Asia Pacific, and specifically oversees the partnership management for all key partner categories including Hotels, OTA’s, Travel, DMO and non-endemic partners, with a team of Account Executives across the region.

With a career in travel spanning 20 years, Scott began working for Virgin Australia Airlines within the partnership team of the Velocity frequent flyer program and was subsequently recruited to Tripadvisor in 2012, where he has held a number of positions in both Australia & Singapore, culminating in his current role as Head of Asia Pacific.

He recently started a podcast called Travel Chapters with Tripadvisor and has now recorded 8 interviews with a range of guests, including travel company CEO’s, CMO’s, travel writers and even an Olympic gold medallist.

Not surprisingly, Scott has a passion for travel and discovering new places and new experiences. Now that he has a young daughter his priority is sharing that passion with her and cultivating a similar love for exploring and experiencing new places and cultures, both within Australia and beyond.

Speaker

Zeerak Zubdah

Client Solutions Manager, South Asia - TikTok (ByteDance)

As Client Solutions Manager at TikTok, Zeerak partners with leading telco and fintech brands and their agencies across Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, helping them grow on TikTok through performance strategy, measurement and new ad products.

With 10 years in AdTech and digital advertising across TikTok, Careem and Daraz, she brings a hands-on view of performance marketing and product adoption in fast-moving South Asian markets.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Melanie Speet

Director, LIONS Asia

Melanie Speet is Director of LIONS Asia, the Asia Pacific region’s premier platform celebrating creative excellence and driving industry progress. Based in Singapore, she leads strategic partnerships, awards and festival programmes that connect brands, agencies and creative talent across some of the world’s most dynamic markets.

With a career spanning senior roles in creative agencies, television, media marketing and global industry events, Melanie brings a uniquely holistic perspective on the intersection of creativity, culture and commercial impact. She is particularly passionate about fostering emerging talent and championing creativity as a driver of business growth and positive change across the region.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Abhay Khanna

Vice President - RateGain/Sojern

Abhay Khanna is a hospitality technology and commercial leader with deep experience across digital marketing, AI, data, revenue strategy, and enterprise growth. At RateGain, he leads the APAC mandate, building markets, teams, go-to-market strategies, and strategic relationships with leading hotel groups across the region.

With a career at the intersection of technology and hospitality, Abhay focuses on how businesses can use AI, data, and digital marketing to understand customers better, create demand, personalize experiences, and ultimately drive measurable revenue.

He is passionate about making AI practical for marketers—moving beyond the hype to explore how AI can transform customer acquisition, content, personalization, campaign optimization, and commercial decision-making.

Abhay regularly works with hospitality leaders and technology teams across Asia and brings a practical, business-focused perspective on the future of AI-powered marketing and digital transformation.

Speaker

Shivanand Lalwani

Founder & Chief Producer - Adsto

As an entrepreneur and creative leader, I’ve successfully built and scaled bootstrapped businesses that drive innovation and deliver impactful results. As the founder of Adsto, a leading production powerhouse in Mumbai, I’ve led large, diverse creative teams to produce over 200 commercials in just 1000 days, working with some of the biggest brands globally, including Tata Motors, Meta, Google India, and Universal Music Group.

I specialize in scaling creative businesses, transforming ideas into high-value, cost-effective solutions, and fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence. At Adsto, we’re redefining content production, empowering the next generation of visual storytellers, and building India’s largest creative network to fuel tomorrow’s most impactful campaigns.

My focus is on creating businesses that last, combining creative vision with strategic leadership to build scalable, future-ready ventures. I am committed to shaping the future of content, fostering innovation, and empowering new talent in the creative industry.

Let’s connect if you’re interested in building businesses that change the game and push the boundaries of creative possibilities.

Speaker

Prerna Mehra

Executive Creative Director - MullenLowe MENA

Prerna Mehra is an award-winning Executive Creative Director whose work sits at the intersection of culture, creativity, design, and technology. Known for bold storytelling and ideas that challenge convention, she has built a reputation for creating work that not only captures attention but drives meaningful impact.

With over 18 years of experience across some of the world’s leading agencies including MullenLowe, Ogilvy, Cheil, and JWT, Prerna has developed an extensive body of work spanning Asia and the Middle East. Her portfolio includes global and regional brands such as Unilever, Samsung, Sprite, Honda, Yum Foods, Philips, Eicher Volvo, Morris Garages, Majid Al Futtaim, MBRGI, Shamal, Dubai Municipality, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Dubai Harbour, and Dubai Safari Park.

As Executive Creative Director and Head of Art & Design at MullenLowe MENA, Prerna has helped shape the agency’s creative vision and standards, leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver work that combines strategic thinking with exceptional craft. Her campaigns have sparked conversations, influenced culture, and in some cases contributed to wider social and policy change - from tackling stigma around women’s health to pioneering conversations around gender-conscious AI and representation.

Her work has been recognised by Cannes Lions, The One Show, Clio Awards, The Webby Awards, London International Awards, Cresta, Caples, Dubai Lynx, ADFEST, Gerety Awards, and many others. She was named among MENA’s Women to Watch and the region’s Most Influential Youth Marketing Professionals, while her campaigns have earned accolades including Campaign of the Year at various Awards.

A respected voice within the global creative community, Prerna is a frequent juror for some of the industry’s most prestigious awards, including Cannes Lions, The One Show, Clio Awards, London International Awards, Dubai Lynx, ADFEST, and Gerety Awards, where she served as Jury President for the Middle East and Africa region in 2025.

Beyond the industry, Prerna is passionate about nurturing the next generation of creative talent through mentoring, guest lectures, and speaking engagements at leading universities and design institutions.

Speaker

Vishnu Mohan

Partner & CEO APAC - DEPT International Digital Agency,
Former Chairman of HAVAS Group - South East Asia, India, Japan and Korea

Vishnu is currently the Partner & CEO of international digital agency DEPT® responsible for scaling up the network’s operations in Asia Pacific. Since its launch in Asia Pacific in the end of 2021, Vishnu has played a key role in growing the agency to 800 employees contributing 5% to global business.

In his three-decade long career, he has spent more than 25 years with the Havas/Vivendi Group, one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies, working in India, China, Singapore and the UK. At Havas/ Vivendi Group, he was credited with launching Havas Media network in Asia Pacific, establishing an operation across 18 markets with 2500 employees and leading 12 key acquisitions personally.

He left the group as its Chairman/CEO for the region in 2021 and founded Avyan Holdings in 2021 designed to be a collective of companies at the junction of design, tech and data helping brands and people thrive in a digital-first world currently operating across Singapore, Sydney, Manila and Delhi.

LinkedIn

Speaker

Kem Suraphongchai

Festival Director - ADFEST

As Festival Director of ADFEST, Asia’s only international creative festival in the region, Kem continues to drive ADFEST forward as the beacon of creative excellence in the region. She takes great pride in being part of the team that makes ADFEST synonymous with creativity, innovation, culture, and community.

ADFEST is included in the WARC 100 Creative Rankings, the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings, and The Drum World Creative Rankings, cementing ADFEST’s legacy as a champion of creativity.

When she has some down time, Kem is either on the rocks climbing or exploring the underwater world.