Sandeep Goyal Elected AAAI President For 2026-27
Dr Sandeep Goyal has been elected president of the Advertising Agencies Association of India for 2026-27. He was elected at the annual general body meeting in Mumbai on 30 September.
- Role: president, AAAI, for the 2026-27 term
- Day job: managing director and chairman of Rediffusion
- Succeeds: Srinivasan K. Swamy, who continues as an ex officio board member for the term
- Vice-president: Jaydeep R Gandhi, founder of Another Idea, re-elected to the post
- Board elected: Sam Balsara of Madison Communications, Priyanka Chatterjee of Standard Publicity, Tanya Goyal of Everest Brand Solutions, Santosh Kumar of Innocean Worldwide Communications, Kunal Lalani of Crayons Advertising, Chandramouli Muthu of Maitri Advertising Works, K Srinivas of Sloka Advertising and Ajit Varghese of Platinum Advertising
What Sandeep Goyal Inherits
An association whose central unresolved question is remuneration. Media commission is long gone, retainers are fixed fees against scopes that keep growing, and project work gives an agency no floor, which is the structural issue underneath most complaints about the quality of the work.
The AAAI has pushed for clearer pitch conduct and payment terms for years. Whether that becomes binding practice rather than guidance is the test of any president's term.
Why The Board Composition Matters
It is weighted toward independents rather than network agencies, with Madison the largest name on it. That shapes which arguments the body takes up, because an independent and a network holding company do not have the same interest in how pitches are run or how media is paid for.
What He Said
Goyal said he was deeply honoured by the trust AAAI members had placed in him as president of the institution. Gandhi said being reappointed vice-president was an honour and a testament to the trust the industry places in him.
More on the company at aaaindia.org. More people.