Dentsu has officially announced the appointment of Ajay Gupte as chief operating officer, South Asia.

Manifest had reported him joining the senior leadership team in February 2026.

He stepped down from his role as president, client solutions, WPP Media South Asia, in January, bringing to a close a nearly 15-year-long association with the network.

Partnering closely with Harsha Razdan, CEO, South Asia, Gupte aims to accelerate dentsu's transformation by advancing strategic priorities and strengthening a future-ready operating model. His leadership will be instrumental in translating dentsu's growth ambitions into execution.

As COO, South Asia, Gupte will play a pivotal role in accelerating dentsu's transformation journey by driving operational excellence, enabling a more agile, future-ready organisation and strengthening collaboration across the network.

Working closely with the South Asia leadership team, he will help translate strategic priorities into execution, unlock new opportunities for sustainable growth and enhance organisational capabilities. His mandate will focus on strengthening client-centric ways of working and advancing dentsu's ability to deliver connected marketing, technology, and consulting solutions that create lasting value for clients, businesses, and society through its Business-to-Business-to-Society (B2B2S) approach.

Razdan said, “Dentsu is entering its next phase of growth with a clear ambition to build the industry's most integrated, client-centric and innovation-led growth partner. As our clients navigate an increasingly dynamic business environment, they need partners who can bring together strategy, creativity, media, data and technology to solve their most complex business challenges and deliver meaningful outcomes. We are continuing to strengthen our leadership and capabilities to realise that vision and provide end-to-end, integrated solutions that help our clients navigate change, seize new opportunities and create long-term value. Ajay's appointment is an important milestone in our transformation journey. His extensive industry experience, proven track record of leading business transformation and deep understanding of clients and markets will further strengthen our ability to execute our strategy, foster greater collaboration across our network and deliver even greater value to our clients. I am delighted to welcome Ajay to dentsu and look forward to partnering with him as we continue to shape the future of our business across South Asia.”

Gupte added, “I am excited to join dentsu at a pivotal moment in its growth journey. The opportunity to work with a talented leadership team to strengthen operational excellence, unlock new opportunities and advance the company's ambition of delivering future-ready integrated solutions is truly exciting. I look forward to partnering closely with teams across the network to drive sustainable, scalable growth and create greater value for our clients.”