PulseAI Platform Rebranded, New CEO Appointed

Former Millward Brown India leader and Kantar Insights Japan MD Shishir Varma has been appointed CEO of AI-powered consumer insights platform PulseAI Research, formerly known as Smytten PulseAI.

The company combines behavioural data, from Smytten's ecosystem of 30 million users, with AI and analysis from LLMs, to deliver real-time consumer insights, qual-at-scale and ongoing brand and campaign intelligence for clients in FMCG, automotive, education and consumer tech. The rebrand follows eighteen months in which the platform has partnered with more than 150 enterprise clients.

Varma brings more than 30 years of experience in the sector. In the 1990s he worked at IMRB International and then client side as an RM at Unilever for four years, both based in Bengaluru. He joined Millward Brown in 2000 and worked as MD for China, company President in Japan and briefly Group Account Director in Australia, before returning to India in 2008 as country MD, a role he held for five years, setting up and scaling the business. Thereafter he was Chief Client Officer for Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific, based in Dubai until MB merged into the Kantar brand in 2016. At Kantar, he served as MD Insights in Japan for seven years.

Siddhartha Nangia, co-founder of Smytten and PulseAI Research, says Shishir is 'highly relevant for where we are taking this platform, given his deep grounding in insights and analytics, strong credibility with brands, and proven ability to scale data-led platforms globally.' He adds: 'He has the rare combination of a builder's mindset and large-company experience, having set up and grown Millward Brown (now part of Kantar) in India from scratch. We are confident that he will help us disrupt the consumer intelligence space and evolve PulseAI Research into a category-leading, AI-driven intelligence engine.'

The company is online at www.pulseairesearch.com .