After a highly successful first edition in 2025, Agency Reporter returns with The Leadership Collective 2026, continuing its mission to bring together a carefully curated group of CXOs and marketing leaders to examine the forces reshaping the industry and the leadership decisions required to navigate them.

As marketing enters a more complex digital era, leaders are no longer simply adopting new technologies—they are tasked with integrating AI, creativity, and human insight in ways that are practical, responsible, and growth-oriented. The 2026 edition is anchored around the theme, “Leading Marketing in the Next Digital Era: Where AI, Creativity & Human Insight Actually Meet.” It reflects the evolving reality of modern marketing leadership, where automation and intelligence must work in harmony with creativity and human judgment.

Conversations will revolve around how marketing leadership is changing as technology accelerates, creativity adapts, and human insight anchors decision-making. The discussions will focus on what it takes to successfully align these forces within real-world marketing environments—across teams, platforms, and consumer touchpoints—to drive relevance, effectiveness, and long-term brand value.

Designed as an intimate forum, The Leadership Collective 2026 will serve as a collaborative think tank for industry leaders to exchange perspectives, challenge conventional thinking, and share practical learnings. The symposium aims to move beyond theory, offering grounded insights into how leaders are structuring organisations, shaping strategies, and redefining marketing excellence in the next phase of digital transformation.

SPEAKERS

AGENDA

TimeTopicDescriptionSpeakers
3:30 PM
Opening Remarks		–
Rahul Puri, Editor & Founder, Agency Reporter
3:40 PMPanel 1: The New Brand Architecture : Redefining Identity in an Algorithmic World
As AI and platforms increasingly shape how brands are built, this session focuses on the choices only senior marketing leaders can make- protecting brand meaning, long-term equity, and creative ambition in a world driven by optimisation. Leaders will discuss how they ensure their brands remain distinctive, human, and future-ready.

What will be discussed:

. Preserving brand identity while scaling with AI and data

. Balancing performance metrics with long-term brand value

. Knowing when to trust data and when to trust leadership instinct
1. Ipshita Chowdhury, Head of Marketing, Motorola


2. Aditya Krishna, Director, Sales & Marketing, McCain Retail

3. Neelima Burra, Chief Strategy Transformation & Marketing Officer, Luminous

4. Amandeep Malhari, Head of Marketing, JK Maxx Paints

5. Roopali Sharma, President- North and East, Havas Media India

6. Moderator– Karan Khanna, Co-founder & COO, Huella Services

4:40 PM
Panel 2: Growth in the Next Digital Era : Orchestrating the Integrated Marketing Machine		This session focuses on how marketing leaders are driving growth in a complex digital ecosystem by aligning content, commerce, and community, while using AI to simplify decision-making and deliver clear business outcomes.

Key discussion points:
• Building a unified growth engine across content, commerce, and community

• Cutting through tool and channel complexity to focus on outcomes

• Using AI to enable faster decisions while keeping leadership human-led
1. Amaresh Godbole, CEO, PDX India and Chief- AI Experiences and Solutions, Publicis Groupe India

2. Ashish Tiwari, Chief Marketing & People Officer, Home Credit India

3. Manish Guptaa, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut

4. Shilpi Kapoor, Marketing Head, BharatPe

5. Moderator– Varun Mohan, Chief Commercial Officer, India, MiQ

GALLERY