Vishal Kumar joins Madison Media as VP - Digital Business, North & East, Ambica Chaudhary as Deputy GM - Integrated Media, and Akanksha Panwar as Deputy GM - Digital Business
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Madison Media, a division of Madison World, continues to bolster its leadership roster in the North & East region with the addition of seasoned professionals across digital and integrated media functions.
Vishal Kumar has joined Madison Media as Vice President - Digital Business, North & East. In this role, Vishal will drive the region's digital growth strategy, collaborating closely with Vivek Das, Chief Digital Officer, Madison Media, and Mimi Deb, COO, Madison Media Plus.
Vishal returns to Madison with over 18 years of experience spanning marketing, media, and digital transformation. An alumnus of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, he spent nearly 8.5 years with GroupM/WPP, where he last led the Digital Practice for Wavemaker North, delivering impactful business outcomes and earning recognition at leading industry forums including Emvies and Goafest. Most recently, Vishal founded LeapX.ai, a NASSCOM-awarded startup focused on building AI agents for paid digital advertising, enhancing his expertise at the intersection of technology, data, and digital growth.
Further strengthening the North & East leadership team, Madison Media has also appointed:
Ambica Chaudhary as Deputy General Manager - Integrated Media:
Ambica brings over 15 years of experience across leading global agency networks including Starcom (Publicis Groupe), Wavemaker (WPP), and most recently PHD, Omnicom Media Group. She has led integrated media planning for marquee brands across CPG, smartphones, luxury fashion, mobility, and life sciences, including managing Unilever's media mandate in the North American market. In her new role, she will reinforce client-centric, integrated media solutions across the North & East region.
Akanksha Panwar joins as Deputy General Manager - Digital Business:
Bringing over 15 years of experience across software engineering, IT, and digital advertising, Akanksha holds an MBA from the University of Nottingham. She spent the last six years with WPP Media managing leading accounts and previously held digital leadership roles at Dentsu Media, delivering full-funnel media strategies across CPG, electronics, fashion, and health insurance. Known for her innovation-led approach, she has led award-winning initiatives recognized at the EMVIES, Indian Digital Marketing Awards, and Campaign India Digital Crest Awards.
Vishal Kumar, Vice President - Digital Business, North & East, Madison, said, "It feels great to return to Madison at a time when the organisation is reimagining the future of advertising & media through Madison 3.0. Having spent the last few years building LeapX.ai at the intersection of AI, data, and performance marketing, I’m excited to bring those learnings back to scale digital growth and build future-ready tech and data capabilities for the North and East markets."
Mimi Deb, COO, Madison Media North & East, commented, "As we strengthen our North & East leadership under Madison 3.0, Vishal will play a pivotal role with his deep expertise in data and technology. Akanksha & Ambica will work closely with Vishal. Akanksha brings diverse category experience and digital depth; for Ambica, it is a homecoming after extensive international exposure managing global brands. Together, this leadership trio will act as growth architects for the North and East branches of Madison. This is just the beginning as we expand our team aligned with Madison 3.0."
Vivek Das, Chief Digital Officer, Madison Media, added, "Vishal, Ambica & Akanksha's appointments are deliberate Madison 3.0 bets on digital-first growth in our North and East markets. Vishal's mix of platform scale, AI entrepreneurship at LeapX.ai, and deep agency craft makes him the growth architect we need for this phase. As we roll out GPS, MbrAIn, and Catalyst OS, he will help translate our AI-powered stack into sharper market choices, stronger systems of effects, and tighter brand-commerce integration for clients in these regions. Ambica strengthens our integrated media leadership with cross-category and global agency experience, helping us deliver sharper, client-centric solutions. Akanksha brings strong, full-funnel digital expertise and innovation-led execution to accelerate solution-focused, integrated outcomes. Together, this leadership bench significantly elevates our North & East growth agenda."
