Ayesha Ghosh, president, Wieden+Kennedy India, and Santosh Padhi (Paddy), chief creative officer, Wieden+Kennedy India, have put in their papers at the agency. Along with the duo, Shreekant Srinivasan, head, Wieden+Kennedy Delhi, has also resigned.

The departures come on the back of the agency shutting down its Mumbai operations and 'scaling back' its presence in India. 

Padhi and Ghosh joined Wieden+Kennedy India in 2022. They were part of the team that opened its Mumbai office.

The agency issued a statement that read, “Wieden+Kennedy is streamlining its presence in India, winding down operations in Mumbai (through the end of 2024) and scaling back its workforce in the agency’s Delhi office to a workforce of employees who will work with the agency’s global leadership to support critical shared services and global business operations—which will not include advertising services at this time.”

“The current management team, Santosh Padhi and Ayesha Ghosh, have resigned but will remain with the agency until the end of the year to help with the transition. Moving forward Delhi employees will report into global leads. Importantly, we want to extend our gratitude to Paddy, Ayesha, and all the employees in Mumbai and Delhi. They have been great colleagues and friends. We deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication from the departing staff, it is never easy to say goodbye to employees and as we scale back our workforce we are working with the departing employees to make sure their transition is as smooth as possible,” it stated.

The company further clarified, “As previously mentioned, remaining Delhi employees will report into global leadership as we are not rehiring leadership to replace Paddy and Ayesha, and will be closing the Mumbai office (that they opened, which is where they are located). For the foreseeable future we won’t be taking on client opportunities in Delhi or Mumbai.” 

The agency added that it will be scaling back in India as it figures out how the Indian market “fits into its future”. 

Padhi said, "I came into the W+K family with lots of excitement as I always followed their amazing work during my taproot days. I’m super proud that along with Ayesha and the solid team we managed to get some of the biggest brands in the nation, and had success on every front, be it people, reputation or clientele. We won over a dozen businesses and have managed to produce some beautiful work on the brands mentioned above. Not only me but we all really enjoyed the freedom the global team gave us on every front with total autonomy and many other wonderful things which I will always remember."

He added, “Unfortunately like most senior creative individuals, even my heart is calling for something beyond this, something new, something that will give me a newer high, I have to depart in search of a new love.”

Ghosh said, “The last two and a half years have been quite exhilarating, right from stepping into this legendary agency, to setting up the Mumbai office, stabilising and growing the Delhi office, delivering good results and adapting the unique W+K culture to India. Within a little over half a year of joining, it was satisfying to see the impact of our leadership. This wouldn't have been possible without the passion and hard work of our employees. Every interaction with the W+K crew around the globe has opened my mind to new ways of thinking and new ways of measuring the worth of the work that we do. I hope I get to work with such a smart set of people again."

Ghosh's statement added that she has been meaning to pause for a while and dedicate time to both yoga and her family. "As for what comes next, I’ll see what the universe throws my way," she said.

Prior to this stint at W+K India, the duo were together at Dentsu. Padhi had founded Taproot which was acquired by Dentsu. Ghosh, meanwhile had joined the agency in 2015 from Contract Advertising.