India-born Devika Bulchandani has been named as the global Chief Executive Officer of advertising and public relations agency Ogilvy, joining the long list of Indian-origin executives taking leadership roles in global multinationals.

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Bulchandani joined the company as global president and CEO of Ogilvy North America two years ago. She will succeed Andy Main, who will continue to serve as a senior advisor until the end of the year, Ogilvy said in a statement.

In her new role, “Dev” as she is known in advertising circles, will be responsible for Ogilvy’s business across 131 offices in 93 countries, covering advertising, public relations, experience, consulting, and health units.

Ogilvy is part of the leading marketing and communications group, WPP. In her new role, Bulchandani will also become part of the WPP's executive committee.

"Devika is a champion of creativity who brings passion, purpose, and an uncompromising focus on generating impact to everything she does,” WPP CEO Mark Read said in a statement.

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Roots in Amritsar

Bulchandani was born in Amritsar and was there till the age of 10. She hails from a large Punjabi family. Her younger sister Priya Seth is a Bollywood cinematographer.

According to a Vogue article, Bulchandani enjoyed climbing trees and riding cycles too big for her like her two older brothers.

As a child, she enjoyed watching American TV shows and hoped to one day become like the characters who returned home tired from work at the end of the day. “I wanted that feeling of being tired and god, did I get it,” Bulchandani told Vogue.

Later, Bulchandani attended Welham Girls’ School in Dehradun. She earned a degree in English and Psychology from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai. She did her master's degree in communications from the University of South California in 1991.

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She married two years later and has two children.

Work experience

Bulchandani has worked in Mastercard, Kraft and Unilever. Prior to joining Ogilvy, Bulchandani was the president of McCann NY, a post she assumed in 2017. She has been associated with the McCann family since 1997, holding the positions of Chief Strategy Officer of McCann XBC and Managing Director of global strategy.

Under Bulchandani’s leadership, McCann earned Adweek’s 2017 Agency of the Year award.

She is famous for her Fearless Girl campaign, which stands as a symbol of the power of female leadership and workplace gender diversity.

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First Published:Sept 9, 2022 1:14 PM IST