Weber Shandwick India Names Arpit Garg as President
Arpit Garg has been appointed as the president of The Weber Shandwick Collective, where he serves as the Head of Weber Shandwick India and Weber Advisory India. He is currently situated in Mumbai and officially took on this position in January 2026.
Before this role, Arpit accumulated more than six years of experience at Adfactors PR, where he held a senior vice president position.
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During his time at the company, he co-led the Strategic Communications Group and was involved in various aspects of corporate reputation management, advisory services, and CXO engagement.
His duties encompassed client acquisition, providing leadership guidance, implementing training initiatives, and overseeing consulting projects throughout India in diverse sectors including telecom, technology, infrastructure, e-commerce, and media.
Prior to joining Adfactors PR, Garg served in senior positions at Genesis BCW, overseeing corporate and financial communications in various markets and collaborating closely with top executives on significant projects. His previous professional experience encompasses positions at Siemens, Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, and Concept Public Relations, with expertise in corporate communications, crisis management, financial communications, and extensive campaigns.
Previously, Weber Shandwick appointed Shashikanth Someshwar as the chief executive officer of its India operations, which will be effective from 1 October.
This move signifies a change in leadership within one of the firm's rapidly expanding markets in the Asia Pacific region.
The agency has a workforce of over 150 employees in Mumbai, Gurgaon, and Bengaluru, catering to a diverse range of clients in technology, healthcare, consumer, and public affairs sectors.
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Shashikanth's promotion comes after his stint as interim managing director earlier this year, following the departure of longstanding India CEO Valerie Pinto in April 2025. He assumed temporary leadership duties after occupying high-ranking positions within corporate and consumer sectors. His involvement in devising client strategies, team expansion, and adaptation of agency operations to meet evolving market demands has been significant.
The change in leadership follows Pinto's decade-long term as CEO of Weber Shandwick India. Pinto, who joined the company in January 2015, also served on the Asia Pacific board and India leadership council. Upon her departure, the company announced that Someshwar and Karan Bhandari, managing director of integrated media strategy, would retain their positions as managing directors under Kim's supervision, with Pinto facilitating a six-month transition period to ensure continued service to clients and teams.
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Shashikanth also oversees Current Global India, a division within the Interpublic Group portfolio, in addition to his roles at Weber Shandwick. This appointment coincides with the agency's increased focus on enhancing data and technology capabilities. In March, Weber Shandwick launched Weber I/O, a platform aimed at streamlining the firm's innovation efforts. Global leadership of Weber I/O falls under Dustin Johnson, who recently assumed the role of chief commercial and innovation officer. The platform integrates analytics, data science, engineering, performance media, experiential technology, and AI advisory services.