In a rapidly evolving digital landscape where trends shift overnight, FTA Global, a recently launched digital company, aims to emerge as a timely and ambitious response to the clutter and confusion that dominate modern marketing.

Founded on 15 May 2025 by Senthil Kumar Hariram, founder and managing director, who spearheaded NP Digital before this as its vice president - marketing, along with a 40-member founding team of former NP Digital India professionals, FTA Global (short for Fire The Agency) positions itself not as a traditional marketing agency, but as a marketing operating system built for speed, scale, and accountability.

Rooted in the belief that brands are shifting away from transactional partnerships and buzzword-heavy strategies, FTA Global aims to adopt a 'Team as a Subscription' (TaaS) model. These embedded, agile pods integrate SEO, paid media, creative, and analytics functions to deliver real business outcomes, not just decks and dashboards.

At the heart of its operations is a culture of deep learning. Through daily ‘FTA Jams,’ the entire team gathers to learn together through a watch party, strengthening the foundational knowledge necessary to stay sharp in an AI-driven world. The approach ensures that FTA Global teams are not just aware of industry terms like ‘vector embeddings’ or ‘LLM optimisation,’ but understand them deeply and apply them meaningfully.

According to Hariram, FTA's solutions stands for being fast, tactical, and accountable. 

“It’s not that brands lack strategy - everyone claims to have one,” he remarked. “The real gap is in execution. Getting things done with urgency and precision is where most agencies fail. That’s the gap we’re filling.”

Instead of the outdated model where one person manages five to ten brands with limited attention, FTA Global embeds dedicated pods into each client’s business. It eliminates the back-and-forth common in traditional SEO and performance marketing projects by taking ownership from end to end.

"We’re building a marketing operating system where everything from SEO to CRM to analytics is aligned under one accountable structure," said Hariram. "We’re not here to pitch against 10 other SEO agencies. That game is over."

The company has already grown to 47 members and is expected to cross 100 within its first six months. It has onboarded clients, including Fractal Analytics, Insight Partners, Zoomcar, and Gemsmantra.

Beyond the structural shift, FTA Global is also responding to behavioural changes in how people search and engage with content.

"ChatGPT alone accounted for nearly USD 50 million from India by Q1 2025, with Indian users forming 20% of its total downloads," said Hariram. 

"Unlike many apps, Indians aren’t just downloading ChatGPT - they’re using it regularly. That’s a behavioural shift."

With AI now embedded in platforms like Google Search and YouTube, FTA believes traditional keyword-based SEO is becoming obsolete. "Gartner predicts that 25% of traditional search volume will drop by 2026. But that doesn’t mean people are searching less - they’re just searching differently," Hariram explained. "It’s no longer about ranking number one for a keyword. It’s about being present in an evolving conversation, across platforms."

This is where FTA Global’s proprietary framework, SEO offerings, and its new philosophy of “Search Engineering” come into play.

The idea is not to optimise for static rankings, but to engineer a brand’s discoverability across AI-powered surfaces like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE).

"ChatGPT doesn’t give just one answer. It lists two or three options. If a brand is optimised well, it can be one of those options. That’s a bigger opportunity than ranking number one in a search engine," he added.

FTA Global is also building proprietary products to support this shift, including its AI-powered operating platform, Jarvis, and tools like AICS (AI Citation Score) and an LLM Optimisation Suite to measure and enhance brand visibility across generative platforms.

"We’re not trying to win the old SEO game," said Hariram. "Clicks are declining, impressions are rising, and Google is penalising low-value AI content. The future is about intelligent commercialisation of AI tools, not just playing with them."

According to him, brands must prepare to use AI tools not just for experimentation but for enterprise-level delivery. With YouTube and Google cracking down on poorly implemented AI content, FTA is helping clients navigate the fine line between innovation and compliance.

Hariram shared, "We're calling it search engineering now, not search optimisation. It's about being present in meaningful conversations. And we’re working with brands who understand tech deeply and value content that delivers business relevance."

Looking ahead, FTA Global plans to scale its client base, hire owner-level talent across functions, and continue building its AI stack. But the mission remains clear: to deliver actionable marketing outcomes, not fluff.

"FTA is a reset button for the industry," Hariram shared on a parting note, "We’re not building another agency. We’re building the world’s most outcome-focused marketing OS."

In a noisy, fast-moving digital world, Hariram and FTA Global's vision might be the clarity of purpose brands are looking for.