Cheil South West Asia (SWA) has elevated Kumar Awanish to the role of Group Chief Operating Officer (COO), where he will lead the organisation’s operational strategy.
Previously serving as Chief Growth Officer, Awanish will now report to the recently appointed President and CEO, Sungkyoon Kim. Based out of the agency’s Gurugram office, he will support the group’s next phase of growth and organisational development.
In his expanded role, Awanish will also help drive the agency’s ongoing digital transformation, focusing on deeper integration of technology and data with its creative capabilities to deliver more future-ready solutions for clients.
Sungkyoon Kim said, “Cheil SWA is ushering a new phase of advertising transformation led by AI. Kumar Awanish has the right skill set and experience to lead the group into this dynamic journey. He is passionate about Cheil SWA group and his enthusiasm for work is contagious. I wish him the best in his new role and looking forward to his second innings at Cheil SWA group”
Kumar Awanish added,” I am incredibly grateful to our global and local leadership for their trust in me to drive our vision forward. We are on a mission to double down on AI literacy across all functions and group agencies, empowering our people to use AI not just for efficiency, but as a catalyst for human creativity. By blending advanced capabilities, with human ingenuity, we are architecting the future of Cheil SWA. This evolution is strengthened by the reunion of media and creative, ensuring that an agency of our scale remains agile and delivers the holistic, full-funnel impact our clients deserve.”
With more than two decades of experience in advertising and marketing, Awanish has worked across technology, data and brand-led growth initiatives. His career spans both agency and client-side roles, with a strong focus on digital transformation and business performance.
Before taking on the new role, he served as Chief Growth Officer at Cheil India, where he led a team of more than 100 specialists. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Airtel, Snapdeal, Times Internet, GroupM and Oppo.
