END OF THE CAPTAIN'S INNINGS

Transitioned, not out... Padma Shri awardee and global advertising and creativity leader PIYUSH PANDEY will continue enjoying the game albeit in a new avatar

-  Noor Fathima Warsia

January 2024 marks a new chapter for Ogilvy India as its long-time boss, Piyush Pandey, transitions into an advisory role. For Pandey, the new role will continue seeing him in the game that he has passionately pursued, challenged and changed over the last 41 years

As the New Year, and with it the new regime in Ogilvy India, sets in, what will change for the agency and you?

Succession plans have to be smooth and done at the right time. What changes is that I play the role of an advisor, mentor and guide, letting the team use me rather than using myself as an authority to use them. This is the way teams are built. To quote a cricket example, Rohit Sharma is the current captain but Virat Kohli is still playing in the team and this is not the first such instance. You stay in the game and be mature enough to have captains growing.

The current leadership has been part of the team for a while now, doing great work. They have learned from me and I have learned from them. They know what to do. If there are parts of the job they have not addressed before, I am there as the sounding board. In the end, they have to do it, but I am here to help where and when required.

Creativity is core to Ogilvy but we have heard about the growth in tech enablement as part of the agency’s ‘twin peaks’. How do you see the latter pick-up in 2024?

There are some tech skills that we need and some that we do not need as our holding company, WPP, has many people who can do that. We collaborate so why should we have another set doing the same work within the agency?