Shashidhar Sharma exits WPP Media after five-year run

MUMBAI: Shashidhar Sharma has moved on from WPP Media, closing the chapter on a five-year stint that helped sharpen the group’s programmatic muscle in India and beyond.

In a reflective note marking his final day on January 2, Sharma described his time at WPP Media as more than a list of projects. It was, he said, a community that pushed him to grow, experiment and build lasting relationships. Together with his teams, he navigated industry highs and lows while keeping reinvention at the centre of the agenda.

Sharma joined the company in January 2021 as head of programmatic and ad operations, taking charge of the practice across all GroupM agencies and sub-agencies. During his tenure, he played a central role in standardising best practices, streamlining operations and scaling innovation across a diverse client portfolio.

One of the standout milestones was leading GroupM to achieve Google Marketing Platform certification, the first holding company in India to do so. Under his watch, programmatic buying became sharper and more transparent, with initiatives such as supply path optimisation, clean supply frameworks and benchmarking dashboards bringing greater clarity to the often complex media supply chain.

Operationally, Sharma focused on making systems work smarter, not harder. Through automation, clear SOPs and defined RACI structures, his teams delivered efficiency gains of over 30 percent while maintaining accuracy and performance. At the same time, he invested heavily in people, rolling out training programmes, certification pathways and growth roadmaps that helped reduce attrition and build a stronger talent pipeline.

Beyond the business, Sharma emerged as a visible industry voice, authoring more than 20 articles on programmatic advertising and speaking at multiple forums. His teams picked up over 15 awards in 2023 and 2024, including honours for innovative use of AI in campaigns.

Before WPP Media, Sharma held senior programmatic roles at FCB Global and Omnicom Media Group in New Zealand and India, and spent over seven years at Google in operations leadership roles.

As for what comes next, Sharma says he is pressing pause before hitting play again. He plans to take a short break to recharge before announcing his next move, carrying forward, as he puts it, a heart full of lessons and a clear view of the road ahead.