Programmatic Asia Symposium 2025 – Mumbai: A Resounding Exchange of Ideas on the Future of Advertising
The fourth edition of Agency Reporter’s Programmatic Asia Symposium, presented by The Trade Desk and hosted at JW Marriott Sahar Mumbai on August 7, 2025, brought together some of the brightest minds in marketing, media, and technology for a compelling afternoon of conversations around data, trust, creativity, and the evolving omnichannel landscape.
The event maintained its tradition of curating high-impact, forward-thinking knowledge-sharing sessions – this time, centered on how programmatic is redefining the future of advertising in India and beyond.
The day commenced with opening remarks by Rahul Puri, Founder & Editor, Agency Reporter, who emphasized that the accelerating digital shift necessitates greater accountability, precision, and innovation across the entire media value chain. His address highlighted how programmatic is no longer just a performance lever but a strategic cornerstone for modern marketing.
This was followed by a powerful keynote by Dhruv Dhawan, Vice President – Revenue, India, The Trade Desk, who laid out the vast omnichannel opportunity available on the open internet. He urged marketers to look beyond walled gardens and move towards a unified, data-driven advertising approach that reaches consumers across multiple screens, platforms, and touchpoints- all while upholding transparency, control, and trust. His keynote set the stage for a day of thought leadership and actionable insights.
The first panel of the day, titled “Driving Brand Growth through Audience-First, Data-Led Planning,” brought together a dynamic set of senior leaders:
Ranjan Mishra – Sr Director, Client Services, The Trade Desk; Francis Rodrigues, SVP – E-Commerce & Digital Marketing, HDFC Life; Reethika Nair, Head – Digital Marketing (Omnichannel) & Transformation, India, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories; Rushabh Shah, Chief Marketing Officer, Rustomjee; Nupur Shah, Senior Vice President, Digital Planning, PHD India; and Kavita Jagtiani, Chief Marketing Officer, L&T Finance.
Moderated by Rahul Puri, Founder & Editor, Agency Reporter, the conversation explored how marketing is moving from reactive planning to predictive strategy- powered by a deep understanding of audiences. Panelists emphasized the need to move beyond vanity metrics and campaign-based KPIs to a model where behavioral signals, intent data, and media efficiency combine to deliver both performance and brand impact.
The second session was an insightful fireside chat titled “Owning the Data Future: Building Trust Through Privacy-First Marketing.” In this one-on-one exchange, Anagha Bhojane, Director – Integrated Brand Experience, Colgate-Palmolive (India), joined Meeta Gupta, Director – Client Services, The Trade Desk, for a candid discussion on balancing personalisation with privacy. They discussed the evolving regulatory landscape, the importance of ethical data use, and how brands can earn consumer trust by creating transparent, value-led experiences anchored in first-party data. The conversation underscored the idea that privacy is not a constraint but an enabler of deeper brand-consumer relationships.
The final panel, “The Context Code: Winning Attention in a Multi-Platform Programmatic Era,” featured senior industry voices including Udita Shroff, Regional Head of Marketing – South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Cathay Pacific; Subrata Basu, Vice President- Marketing, Nitco Tiles; Amruta Pawar, General Manager-Digital Marketing & Marketing Strategy, Hafele and Samir Karpe, Country Manager, DoubleVerify.
Moderated by Clyde Nunes, Senior Director – Business Development, The Trade Desk, the panel delved into how context, relevance, and attention have become the new currency in advertising. From dynamic creative optimisation to tailored storytelling across platforms, the discussion touched on how programmatic enables brands to adapt messaging in real-time – aligning with the mindset of the consumer in each moment and medium. There was consensus that context isn’t just about content, but also about environment, mood, and timing – all of which can be harnessed to enhance engagement.
As the day transitioned into cocktails and dinner, conversations deepened over shared insights and industry camaraderie. What emerged clearly was a unified belief: that programmatic has firmly moved from being a tactical tool to a boardroom-level discussion influencing long-term brand strategies.
The 2025 Mumbai edition of the Programmatic Asia Symposium reaffirmed that as the advertising landscape continues to evolve, the future belongs to brands and partners who prioritize transparency, agility, and consumer relevance – and who are willing to embrace the open internet with both confidence and accountability.