Groundbreakin

What does it take to build a footwear brand in India that competes globally, without taking the easy route through China? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Ajaaz, Principal Designer and Co-Founder at Ludic, a footwear-first lifestyle brand built from scratch in India. From his early years designing for Fila to working on KL Rahul’s Puma collab, to investing 50-60 lakhs in prop...

What does it take to build a branding studio that gets dream clients without ever doing cold outreach? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Abhishek Durani , founder of Studio Sorted , a Bangalore-based branding and strategy agency behind some of India’s most talked-about consumer brands. From Theka Coffee on Shark Tank to a participatory brand built with a food community, Durani...

What does it take to stay curious across 27 years and 7 completely different industries? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Pradeep, a mechanical engineer turned design leader who has worked across consumer durables, consulting, aerospace, and cloud  most recently leading design for Google Cloud. From a defibrillator still in market 25 years later to a PhD on sustainable softwa...

What does it take to design products that go into millions of Indian homes  and actually solve real problems? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Mohan Vijay, Head of Design & User Experience at B/S/H India  the company behind Bosch, Siemens, and Gaggenau appliances. From painting temple sculptures as a child in Tamil Nadu to designing Xerox printers from India for the world...

What does it take to design something that millions of people will use  for the next 40 years? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Snehal, Head of Design at Alstom one of the world’s leading rail and mass transit companies. From designing ceiling fans at Bajaj to trucks at Tata Motors, cars at Hyundai, and now entire train systems, Snehal’s journey is a masterclass in designing...

What does it take to design products that don’t just meant to look good but keep the world safe? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Meenakshi Thaploo a designer with 20+ years of experience across architecture, retail, fintech, and now cybersecurity at Cisco. From studying architecture to falling in love with visual design, to landing in one of the most complex and high-stakes...

What does it take to build a brand so powerful that it becomes part of everyday language? In this episode of The Groundbreaking, we sit down with Munz  freelance designer, metal band vocalist, photographer, and the creative mind behind some of India's most recognizable brand moments at Dunzo, Flipkart, Gojek, and now First Club. With over a decade of experience building brands from zero to on...

In this conversation, we sit down with Anant Tambade, a design leader at Microsoft, who takes us inside the rapidly evolving intersection of design, AI, and product building. From architecture to industrial design, UX, and now leading experiences in AI-powered products like Copilot, Anant shares a 20+ year journey of constantly evolving with technology and the mindset required to stay relevant. He...

In this conversation, Sundar Chandramouli, a professional civil engineer and infrastructure leader, takes us behind the scenes of one of India’s most iconic infrastructure projects Bangalore Airport Terminal 2. From blueprint to reality, Sundar unpacks the immense planning, leadership, systems thinking, and sheer execution effort that goes into building an international airport at scale. He shares...

What does it take to stay relevant when tools change faster than job titles-and AI threatens to rewrite the rules overnight? In this wide-ranging and deeply reflective conversation, Dipaq sits down with Sumit Bedi, design leader, educator, and relentless ideator, to unpack what truly makes a designer future-ready. From his early days obsessing over school projects to leading experimentation and R&...

What do two decades building a top design consultancy and a shift to leading design at one of India's largest private banks have in common? In this honest and wide-ranging conversation, Dipaq sits down with Narendra Ghate, Head of Design at HDFC Bank. Drawing from his 25-year tenure at Tata Elxsi , where he traveled the world "selling software by doing projects", Ghate shares his ev...

In this candid conversation, Vikash Kumar (Director of Design at Pine Labs) takes us through his incredible career shift-from working on massive campaigns for brands like Vodafone to steering the entire art and brand aesthetic at Pine Labs. Vikash gives a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the advertising industry, discussing what it was like to work at an agency like Ogilvy Mumbai (which he calls on...

In this conversation, Dipaq sits down with Bikash, Head of Design at Ather , whose 11-year journey is a masterclass in building a design-first EV brand from a startup to a public company. From the early days of an idea to pioneering India's two-wheeler EV space, the guest details their unique approach to innovation: challenging the status quo, designing for an integrated experience (hardware...

Robin Dhanwani is the founder of Parallel , a product-design studio that works with startups, enterprises, and public systems to design with empathy and clarity. He talks about building a studio from scratch, selling design in India, and why the most important part of design is learning when to stop. From building Parallel to redesigning DigiLocker , Robin Dhanwani’s story is about designing with...

In this 50th episode of Groundbreakin, we sit down with Susan, a designer, artist, and brand thinker who has quietly shaped some of Asia’s most influential brands. From being an “accidental designer” at Flipkart to redefining brand identity for Gojek, Cult.fit, and now leading brand design at Jio, Susan’s story is one of curiosity, courage, and creative evolution. We dive into: - How an engineer-t...

This conversation with Shayak Sen, the Head of Design at Myntra , is a masterclass in navigating the complexities of design leadership and e-commerce at massive scale. Shayak, who transitioned from an architecture background to co-founding one of Bangalore's earliest UX agencies, offers a rare, insider's view on how design truly operates in a major Indian consumer tech company. The E-Com...

In this refreshingly honest conversation, Dipaq sits down with Ekta Manchanda, co-founder of Everything Design, a multidisciplinary design studio specializing in B2B branding. Ekta shares the story of her 12-year journey from a graphic designer working at various agencies to co-founding her own firm, which now employs 36 people under one roof. She provides a masterclass on the importance of authen...

What is the future of branding in a world where AI is accelerating every creative process, and the lines between physical and digital are blurring? In this mind-bending conversation, Dipaq sits down with Anshul, a Design Manager at BCG, to unpack the paradigm shifts happening in the creative industry. Anshul's journey from aerospace engineering to his current role at a top-tier consulting fir...

What's it like to be a creative professional in today's world of rapidly evolving technology and changing industry landscapes? In this deep-dive conversation, Dipaq sits down with Vibhor , a seasoned design leader and former creative professional at Grofers and now Razorpay , who shares his unfiltered thoughts on the creative industry. Vibhor unpacks his journey from a B2C brand like Gro...

What does it take to build a career that's a masterclass in curiosity and adaptation? In this episode, we sit down with Nivedita Saikia, a Design Leader at Smallcase, whose career journey is anything but linear. From her beginnings in architecture and furniture design to her current role in the fast-paced world of fintech, Nivedita's story is a powerful guide for any creative navigating...

Burnout. AI. Broken design education. The messy truth about running a studio. In this episode of Groundbreakin, Dipaq sits down with Apeksha Gupta — design leader, entrepreneur, and writer — who goes unfiltered on the realities every creative faces but few talk about. From starting her design career at 19 to leading projects for Coca-Cola, Target, and Landor, and from building her own women-led st...

What does it take to lead design through one of the biggest shifts in the creative industry? In this episode, Dipaq sits down with Sourajit Sengupta , Design Leader at Razorpay and former Head of Design at Lenskart , to explore the evolution of communication design from a “nice-to-haveˮ to a strategic growth driver. From building an award-winning in-house design team at Lenskart to leading a  mass...

What’s it really like to run a design studio today in a world of niche branding, long sales cycles, remote teams, and impatient clients? In this refreshingly honest conversation, we speak with Harish Venkatesh , founder of Become and Frontrunner , a studio redefining what it means to build meaningful brands in India. Harish unpacks the decade-long journey from freelancing in college to leading a p...

What does it take to stay original in an industry obsessed with trends, algorithms, and speed? In this episode, we sit down with Bharath Adharsh, Creative Lead at StayVista an ex-engineer turned storyteller who found his voice through language, not layouts. From writing his first lines of copy to now leading a growing creative team, Bharath reflects on a journey shaped by instinct, unlearning, and...

What is the future of a creative career in a world of AI, rapidly changing tech, and new opportunities? We explore this and more in a deep and inspiring conversation with Madhu Amodia, a seasoned design leader and the Dean of École Intuit Lab, Bangalore. Madhu draws from her rich experience leading design for brands like Air India and CNBC, sharing why she pivoted from the corporate world to focus...