FMCG Giants And AI Visionaries Take Center Stage At The 18th MWB Delhi Edition

BW Marketing World, in association with BW Businessworld hosted  the 18th edition of the BW Businessworld Marketing Whitebook Summit.

The event saw FMCG giants, Dabur and Amul’s CEOs as Keynote speakers along with executives from Starbucks, MTR, DLF, Audi India and more.

Mohit Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer, Dabur India hosted a keynote session on ‘Gen AI to Gen Z’ which then led into a fireside chat among Malhotra and Dr. Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld Group and Founder, exchange4media Group.

The CEO Session on ‘AI as a Force for Change for Business Community’ delved into how top executives are strategically harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to foster business growth and enhance connections with consumers. This session featured Salil Kapoor, the CEO of Hindware Home Innovation, and Sanjay Bhutani, Managing Director for India & SAARC at Bausch & Lomb India.

The Great MWB Debate was an event highlight tackling the theme, ‘The Long Game: Marketing’s Luxury to Forego Short-term Results for Long-term Gains.’ This debate delved into the strategic decisions faced by marketing leaders and whether they can afford to make short-term compromises in pursuit of long-term benefits. Representing the opposing views were Nitin Sethi, Joint President, Chief Digital Officer – Consumer Businesses, Amani Group, and Neelima Burra, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer at Luminous Power Technology, both arguing against the notion of sacrificing short-term gains. Advocating for sacrificing short-term gains were Deba Ghoshal, Vice President and Head of Marketing at Voltas, and Siddhartha Butalia, Chief Marketing Officer of Air India Express.

The leadership session on ‘Managing Marketing Expectations’ explored how marketing leaders define and navigate the expectations placed on them within the larger context of organisational goals. The panel comprised of Ipshita Chowdhury, Chief Marketing Officer at Valvoline; Tathagat Jena, Head of Marketing for India & APAC at HMD Global and Pallavi Chopra, Chief Marketing Officer at Redbus.

The marketers’ roundtable on AI and Trust explored the strategic utilisation of AI to foster brand loyalty and instill consumer trust. The discussion was led by Ruchika Gupta, Marketing Director at Beam Suntory India, Rahul Talwar, Chief Marketing Officer of Max Life Insurance, and Sushmita Nag, Chief Marketing Officer at Fenesta Building Systems.

The leadership session on ‘Marketing Leadership of the Future’ delved into skill acquisition and unlearning outdated practices in the dynamic landscape of marketing. Sai Narayan, CMO of PolicyBazaar and Gauri Malhotra, CMO of Bombay Shaving Company joined the session.

The spotlight session on ‘Balancing Innovation, Operation & Regulation in the Age of AI’ was led by Vikas Gupta, the Group CEO of VLCC in conversation with BW Businessworld. The discussion shed light on the strategic decisions and considerations that business leaders must weigh to successfully integrate AI into their operations while navigating the evolving regulatory landscape.

The leadership session on ‘The Shifting Mindset of the Always Online Consumer’ was led by industry experts, including Gaurav Sinha, Head of Marketing & PR at Audi India, Kunal Sharma, AVP of Marketing & Modern Trade Ecommerce at KRBL, Rajeev Jain, Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Dharampal Satyapal (DS Group).

The session on ‘Marketing Leaders of the Future’ included Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing Asia Pacific at Motorola Mobility, Nimish Agarwal, Vice President & Head of Marketing , Niva Bupa Health Insurance, and Sumeet Pahwa, Head of Brand, Social & Media at Tata Tele Business Services.

The summit was followed by the BW Marketing World 30 Under 30 Awards Ceremony, recognising the brightest in marketing under the age of 30.