Dentsu appoints Harsha Razdan as CEO, South Asia

Dentsu Asia Pacific has appointed Harsha Razdan as CEO, South Asia, dentsu effective 1 May 2023. Razdan will be based in Mumbai.

Reporting to Rob Gilby, CEO APAC, dentsu, Razdan will be responsible for leading nearly 4,000 talented people across South Asia, uniting teams around dentsu’s vision to be at the forefront of people-centered transformations that shape society. He will work with leaders to bring this long-term vision to life while building upon dentsu’s strong reputation of creativity and innovation and delivering excellence for clients.

“India has been through the most profound and impressive digital transformation and the future of the digital economy is bright; with new opportunities being generated by the advent of 5G, proliferation of affordable devices, and the development of a new economy accessible to all,” said Gilby. “Harsha is an exceptional leader with a deep strategic understanding of the competitive landscape. His background in brand building, overlayed with deep knowledge of tech-driven transformation brings formidable cross-capability expertise and will drive growth opportunities in creating a new value ecosystem for clients with consumers at the centre.”

Razdan said: “It is a very exciting time to be leading an agency network in India, especially with the significant progress we are seeing in the digital development of our market and what that means for brands. India is leap-frogging other markets in its adoption and development of new technologies, and it’s critical that agencies are capitalising on new opportunities for brands to speak to new consumers. I can’t wait to get started.”

Razdan is a well-known and respected leader with over 25 years of experience, having worked across large, global FMCG organisations PepsiCo and Unilever, and consulting practices including Accenture where he spent four years in the UK. In all his roles he has consistently delivered growth and excellence for his clients. He joins dentsu from KPMG where he is a Senior Partner, responsible for overseeing both Clients & Markets and Consumer Markets, Life Sciences & Internet Business. He also sits on the Advisory Leadership team as well as the Global Consumer & Retail leadership team.