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Dr. Sandeep Goyal Elected AAAI President: Faces Challenges, Prioritizes AI Training
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Storyboard•30-09-2026, 18:16
Dr. Sandeep Goyal Elected AAAI President: Faces Challenges, Prioritizes AI Training
- •Dr. Sandeep Goyal, Chairman & Managing Director of Rediffusion, has been unanimously elected President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for 2026-27.
- •The AAAI, celebrating its 80th anniversary, is the apex body for India's top advertising agencies and media buying houses, collaborating with industry bodies like BARC, INS, and ASCI.
- •Dr. Goyal brings extensive experience, having worked at HTA, Trikaya Grey, and Mudra, and previously served as President of Rediffusion, Group CEO of Zee, and Chairman of Dentsu India & Middle East.
- •He holds an MBA and PhD from FMS Delhi, a DLitt from the University of Lucknow, and has authored ten books, including best-sellers The Dum Dum Bullet and Konjo – The Fighting Spirit.
- •Dr. Goyal acknowledges significant challenges for AAAI, including a CCI investigation, agency struggles with AI and data technologies, revenue stress, and the need to rejuvenate GoaFest; his top priority is to address AI fears and provide training to protect jobs, especially for smaller agencies.
Key Questions Answered
Dr. Sandeep Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director of Rediffusion, was unanimously elected as the President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the 2026-27 term.
Dr. Goyal noted that the AAAI faces several challenges, including a long-standing CCI investigation casting a shadow on member agencies, member struggles with deploying AI and data technologies, stressed agency revenues, and the need to rejuvenate and refresh GoaFest.
Dr. Goyal stated that taking the fear out of AI is the industry's most compelling need, with training current cadres being the primary solution to protect jobs, especially for AAAI members lacking scale and size.
