Sharma joined Ruder Finn Asia in 2018 as Managing Director, Vice President of Ruder Finn India, responsible for overall management and operations, and establishing Ruder Finn as a major player in the India market. With a transformative leadership style, Sharma has led Ruder Finn India to become the fastest growing PR firm in India, building its sectoral expertise across Technology, Brand, Corporate, Auto, Entertainment, Education, Lifestyle, B2B, and Start-Ups, amongst others. The India office has grown multi-fold in the last four years with a strong focus on technology, data analytics and insights and storytelling at its core. Sharma has brought on board extremely competent talent across all the five offices in India. Ruder Finn India is also the first PR firm in the region to launch Web3 Practice to help brands understand and build communities for their various stakeholders.
Sharma will continue to lead his team in India, which has experienced exponential growth in staff in the last four years, as well as grow the team in the Middle East as he spearheads the initiative to expand Ruder Finn’s footprint in the region. In addition to his work at Ruder Finn, Sharma also acts as President of the PRCAI (Public Relations Consultants Association of India) wherein he is leading various initiatives to make the PR industry more professional, ethical and prosperous.
“It is an honor to be named CEO of the Ruder Finn India Group, which has been recognized as one of the fastest growing mid-size public relations firms in the region, with a strong portfolio of clients backed by exceptional talent,” said Atul Sharma, CEO, Ruder Finn India & Head, Middle East. “I am also excited about the opportunities in the Middle East for its strong presence in sectors including energy, luxury and retail. I am looking forward to helping build and establish the Ruder Finn presence in the GCC markets.”
“We are thrilled to have Atul expand his role. As a respected industry veteran his strong understanding of business growth but also staying ahead of the curve with innovation makes him a strong leader to drive this next chapter of growth for us,” said Elan Shou, Regional Director, Asia, Ruder Finn. “We are certain with our footprint expanding globally, we will truly be able to integrate and drive more synergy for global mandates across locations especially in newer sectors like defense, Web3, aggregator economy etc.”