Madison Media announces senior leadership changes in North and East region

Madison Media, a unit of Madison World, has appointed three senior executives across digital and integrated media roles to strengthen its leadership team in the North and East region.

Vishal Kumar has joined Madison Media as Vice President - Digital Business, North and East. In the role, he will oversee digital operations in the region and work with Vivek Das, Chief Digital Officer, Madison Media, and Mimi Deb, COO, Madison Media Plus.

Kumar has more nearly two decades of experience across marketing, media and digital transformation. He previously spent about eight and a half years with GroupM/WPP, where he most recently led the digital practice for Wavemaker North.

Before rejoining Madison, Kumar founded LeapX.ai, a startup focused on developing AI agents for paid digital advertising.

The agency has also appointed Ambica Chaudhary as Deputy General Manager - Integrated Media. Chaudhary has more than a decade of experience with agency networks, including Starcom (Publicis Groupe), Wavemaker (WPP) and PHD, part of Omnicom Media Group. Her experience includes managing integrated media planning for brands across sectors such as consumer goods, smartphones, luxury fashion, mobility and life sciences, including Unilever’s media mandate in the North American market.

Akanksha Panwar has joined the agency as Deputy General Manager - Digital Business. Panwar has more than a decade of experience across software engineering, information technology and digital advertising.

She has worked with WPP Media for the past six years. Her previous roles include digital leadership positions at Dentsu Media, where she worked on full-funnel media strategies across categories such as consumer goods, electronics, fashion and health insurance.

Speaking on his appointment, Vishal Kumar said, “It feels great to return to Madison at a time when the organisation is reimagining the future of advertising & media through Madison 3.0. Having spent the last few years building LeapX.ai at the intersection of AI, data and performance marketing, I’m excited to bring those learnings back to scale digital growth and build future-ready tech and data capabilities for the North and East markets.”

Commenting on the appointments, Mimi Deb, said, “As we strengthen our North & East leadership under Madison 3.0, Vishal will play a pivotal role with his deep expertise in data and technology.  Akanksha & Ambica will work closely with Vishal. Akanksha brings with her diverse category experience and digital depth. For Ambica, it is homecoming after an exhaustive international exposure in managing global brands. Together, this leadership trio will act as the growth of architects for the North and East branches of Madison.  This is just the beginning as we move towards strengthening our team aligned with Madison 3.0.”

Vivek Das, added, “Vishal, Ambica & Akanksha’s appointments are deliberate Madison 3.0 bets on digital first growth in our North and East markets. Vishal’s mix of platform scale, AI entrepreneurship at LeapX.ai and deep agency craft makes him the growth architect we need for this phase. As we roll out GPS, MbrAIn and Catalyst OS, he will help translate our AI-powered stack into sharper market choices, stronger systems of effects and tighter brand–commerce integration for clients in these regions. Ambica strengthens our integrated media leadership with deep cross-category and global agency experience, helping us deliver sharper, client-centric solutions. Akanksha brings strong, full-funnel digital depth and innovation-led execution to accelerate solution-led, integrated outcomes. Together, this leadership bench significantly elevates our North & East growth agenda.”