VML India names Kiran Ramamurthy CEO; Baruah goes regional

Mumbai: VML India has set a leadership transition for December 1, 2026. Kiran Ramamurthy becomes chief executive officer, and Babita Baruah moves into a senior regional role as Head of the Ford business. The structure is deliberate: the agency wants its next phase of growth without interrupting client relationships.

The move sits within WPP’s India creative network, where Hephzibah Pathak oversees multiple agency brands. It reads as a continuity-led succession: fresh energy in the India CEO seat, with the outgoing leader moving to a wider regional mandate.

01 · Who steps in

Ramamurthy joins from Grey 82.5, where he is currently CEO. He brings more than three decades across marketing and advertising, covering mainline advertising, design, technology and content production. His client resume includes Unilever, Amazon, Toyota, IBM, Coca-Cola, ITC, De Beers and Tata Consumer Products. He also pioneered the Lenovo Marketing Hub, an early example of centralised marketing services in India, and led transformation and growth at 82.5 while overseeing the integration of Grey and 82.5.

02 · Who moves up

Baruah has spent more than thirty years in the industry, including two decades working on brands such as The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, Nestlé and Kellogg’s. Before her India CEO stint, she was based in Bangkok as Regional Client Lead for the Ford International Market Group and Executive Director at VMLY&R Thailand. During her time as VML India CEO, the agency delivered business performance and earned creative recognition at Cannes Lions and the Effies.

Her new regional Ford remit is not a sideways move; it puts an India-based leader at the centre of a global client relationship.

03 · Why CMOs should read this as continuity

Hephzibah Pathak, CEO of WPP Creative India, framed the transition as our commitment to nurturing exceptional talent across our network while maintaining absolute continuity and momentum for our clients, adding that VML enters its next chapter in a position of strength.

For brand teams, the practical read is simple: leadership change is announced, but the stated strategy is momentum, not a reset. When an agency changes its India CEO, clients should ask:

• Will the senior client lead on my account stay the same?
• Does the incoming CEO bring capabilities my brand needs next?
• Is the outgoing leader staying close enough to protect institutional knowledge?

Ramamurthy’s technology and content production background hints at where VML India may push next: more integrated, tech-led brand work, with the Ford regional mandate giving India a stronger voice in APAC-level decisions.

Source: MediaNews4U

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.