Jagannath continues Thoughtworks journey as VP for India and Middle East

MUMBAI: He’s no stranger to building brands that think big and now, he’s doing it across continents. A L Jagannath, fondly known as Jaggi in industry circles, will continue his journey at Thoughtworks as vice president, marketing and partnerships for India and the Middle East, marking the next phase in a storied career that has spanned tech giants, global brands, and award-winning marketing milestones.

Based in Bengaluru, Jagannath will refine regional strategy and steer a high-performing team at the hyper-growth technology consultancy, tasked with scaling the business threefold over three years. His focus will span account-based marketing (ABM), brand leadership, talent branding, and partnerships with tech majors such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft Azure, all geared towards deepening Thoughtworks’ presence and influence in the region.

Before ThoughtWorks, Jagannath spent over six years at VMware, where he led India marketing and later switched lanes to head sales for the Dell-EMC alliance, a move that saw him grow the business sevenfold, from USD 8 million to 50 million dollars in just three years. His performance earned him a place among VMware’s global top one per cent and back-to-back wins at the President’s Club in 2018 and 2019.

Earlier, as director of marketing for India and SAARC at VMware, he was part of the leadership team that executed “Mission 101”, doubling India’s business by USD 100 million within three years and cementing the brand’s dominance in virtualisation. His marketing strategy also helped the company maintain a 70 per cent-plus market share for its core products, while driving over 3,000 new customer acquisitions.

Jagannath’s career map reads like a who’s who of modern marketing. At LinkedIn, he built demand generation programmes that tripled the pipeline from USD 20 million to USD 60 million, creating alliances with corporates such as Wipro and Infosys. At Sun Microsystems, he led marketing for the systems business and rolled out India’s first B2C campaigns for the brand. His early years at Reliance Infocomm saw him launch Reliance WebWorld, test-market gaming services, and even partner with Microsoft to introduce Halo to Indian gamers way before esports was mainstream.

A marketer with both creative instinct and commercial acumen, Jagannath has also earned industry recognition as CMO of the Year (2012 and 2016) and most influential marketing leader by the World Marketing Congress. His stints at DDB Mudra, where he worked on iconic Indian brands like Dhara and Rasna, shaped his storytelling sensibilities early on.

Now, as he continues his journey at ThoughtWorks, Jagannath is setting his sights on scale, innovation, and synergy. “This new chapter is about refining our regional strategy, collaborating across markets, and delivering greater value for our clients and partners,” he said.

For someone who has turned every role into a masterclass in marketing reinvention, Jaggi’s next innings promises to be no different another leap in a career built on big ideas, bold moves, and brand brilliance.