Digitas CEO Amaresh Godbole to join Google

He will step down in March.

Publicis Groupe confirmed today that Amaresh Godbole, CEO Digitas India will be stepping down in March, to join Google. Amaresh has been with the company since 2009 and has been instrumental in scaling up the business in the country.

Said Anupriya Acharya, CEO Publicis Groupe South Asia, “Amaresh has been a Publicis Groupe loyalist for over a decade. He is moving on to an interesting profile and we’re all extremely happy and supportive of this next chapter in his career. We value his contributions and wish him the very best. He is with us for a couple of months, and is committed to helping us plan a smooth transition. We will announce the succession plan in due course.”

Amaresh Godbole commented, “I have nothing but gratitude for my years at Publicis Groupe and Digitas. I have had the opportunity to grow as a professional and as an individual. I doubt I would have ever considered moving out for a similar role elsewhere. I felt ready for this one because Digitas has a phenomenal leadership team in place and is now at a scale where it is self-sustaining. We’ve had our best ever performance last year. Further, with the Groupe’s “Power of One" strategy and Anupriya’s leadership I have no doubt about its continued success.”

When asked about the recent exits, Anupriya further commented - "There is a regular churn which is there in all organisations as talent seeks newer experiences - we have seen enough cases even in recent times where people move from advertising to start-ups, from media to marketing, from broadcasting to platform companies and such. And some of course to competition. That's the nature of the market today. It's unfortunate that some sections of media are trying to sensationalise routine moves. We continue to do great work, stay focussed, deliver on all fronts."