Kunal Roy joins VML India as Managing Partner + Shekhar Khanna named CSO

VML India has strengthened its national leadership team, adding Kunal Roy as Managing Partner – West & Growth Lead, India, and Shekhar Khanna as Chief Strategy Officer. These appointments reinforce the agency’s focus on delivering growth-led, integrated solutions for clients across India and mark a significant step in its continued expansion.

Kunal Roy (pictured left) brings over two decades of experience in building businesses, brands and agencies across Asia. Prior to joining VML, as CEO of Dentsu Creative in Malaysia, he led the transformation and integration of six companies into a unified creative powerhouse. Earlier, as Group Chief Strategy Officer of Publicis Groupe Malaysia, he led the organisation to three consecutive Effie Agency of the Year wins. Over the years, Roy has played a key role in shaping brands across domains from McDonald’s, Samsung, HSBC, Mondelez, Unilever, to Nestlé, Adidas, Estée Lauder and Abbott. Guided by the ‘Modern Marketing’ compass, Roy has consistently adapted to the changing landscape from being the Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy Action in 2009 in Sri Lanka to APAC Head of Shopper Strategy at Saatchi & SaatchiX in 2015 based in China and later launching Dentsu Entertainment and championing Dentsu Sustainability in 2022.

At VML India, he brings his experience and fervour to help build the most valuable brands of tomorrow by consulting and solving for a world of endless uncertainties and possibilities. Roy will lead the Mumbai office and drive growth for VML India in close partnership with CEO, Babita Baruah.

Shekhar Khanna (pictured right) is an integrated strategist with 20 years of transformative experience across the APAC region. Evolving from a research background into strategic leadership roles across Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Shanghai, he has navigated diverse agency environments spanning research, digital, creative, activation and media. This unique trajectory has cemented his conviction in the power of seamless integration where he consistently delivers bigger integrations for clients. As a true full-stack strategist, Khanna merges strategy, creativity, media, AI and automation to drive efficiency and effectiveness in today’s rapidly changing marketing landscape. His appointment establishes a formidable strategic planning unit with Shubhrojyoti Roy serving as National Planning Director and BX Lead.

Babita Baruah, CEO, VML India, said: “Kunal and Shekhar join us at an exciting moment for VML India as we expand our capabilities and sharpen our focus on growth-led solutions. Their leadership will play a key role in shaping the next chapter of our journey and delivering even greater value for our clients.”

“VML India is at an exciting point of inflection and I am thrilled to come on board at this time,” said Roy. “Growth today is about creating value in a way that has real business impact. By bringing together creativity, commerce and customer experience I’m eager to create lasting & meaningful value with our teams, for our clients.”

Khanna added: “In a world where brands are navigating constant change, strategy has to do more than simplify – it has to connect. The real opportunity is to integrate creativity, media, data and culture into unified thinking system that drives real impact. I’m excited to build that with teams and clients in India.”