Management Team
Samir Patil, CEO and Founder
Samir has 10 years of strategy, operations, and technology experience in Media, Hi-Tech, and Healthcare firms. Before launching this entrepreneurial venture Samir was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, New York. He has worked with most of the top global media firms including magazine and newspaper publishers, consumer electronics companies, and cable TV and online service providers. His work has spanned a variety of critical areas within the media industry ranging from driving growth through digital media, launching new online services, improving ad sales efficiencies, and reducing costs through offshore business functions in India. Before going to business school, Samir worked as project manager in Parametric Technologies. He also founded Vertex Software India, a boutique services firm funded by Mitsui Ventures and acquired by NTT Data Corporation of Japan.
Samir was educated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he received a Masters from the Sloan School of Management and from the School of Engineering.
Arjun Gupte, VP Creative Studio
Arjun has 8 years of international experience in developing content for games, film, and TV. He worked as a senior character animator on two PC/PS2 titles and one 3D TV series in Europe. He later joined Jim Henson Studios for Mirrormask, a children's fantasy film directed by the award winning team of Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman. Arjun is also an entrepreneur; he was the founder and CEO of Quiet Men Studios, which was acquired by ACK Media. His studio in Bangalore specialized in delivering world-class character design and animation content for next-generation games for customers like Sony and Warner Bros. The Bangalore team has also worked on several independent titles, ranging from Elvira to the latest K.I.S.S game for the PC and XBOX 360 platforms.
As the head of the creative studio, Arjun brings extensive experience in the developing new proprietary content including character design, stories and games for multiple digital platforms including online, mobile, film and TV. His vision is to develop a focused creative studio that uses Indian themes and stories and works effectively with multiple production studios to bring new products to market.
Arjun studied at the National Institute of Design (NID) India and Vancouver Film School Canada, where he specialized in 3D character animation and character design for film. He earned a B.Sc. in Nuclear and Statistical Physics from Fergusson College Pune.
Savita Pai, VP Product Management
Savita has worked across multiple sectors including media, retail, IT and financial services during her 2 years as associate in McKinsey & Company, Mumbai. She has worked with some of the largest business conglomerates in India as well international firms to craft the growth strategy for various business units, new product development, supply chain management and private equity fund management. She is passionate about the retail sector and has authored multiple papers on the retail sector in India during her stint at McKinsey. Prior to joining business school, Savita has also worked for 2 years as a software engineer at Infosys Technologies.
Savita studied at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management with a specialization in Marketing. She also holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science from PESIT Bangalore.
Varun Sud, VP Sales & Marketing
Prior to joining ACK Media, Varun was a consultant with McKinsey & Company at their Delhi office. He has rich experience in strategy and operations across multiple sectors including media, IT, consumer goods, and retail. Varun served both Indian and multi-national clients, and has worked across North America, Europe and South East Asia. He has drafted the India Consumer strategy for a top 3 media & technology behemoth.
Varun holds a 5 Year Integrated M.Tech. in Mathematics & Computing from IIT Delhi and a Mini-MBA from McKinsey professional development. He also spent a year in France on an exchange program at the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) Lyon.
Anant Pai, Editor Emeritus and Chief Story Teller
Anant Pai, popularly known as Uncle Pai, has been hailed as the Father of Indian comics. He is a graduate of the University of Bombay with BSc and BSc (Tech) degrees. His deep interest in philosophy, languages, literature and the arts led him to take up writing as his career.
He launched Amar Chitra Katha in 1968 and went on to become the Founder Editor of Tinkle, a children's monthly magazine in the comic format, launched in 1981. Over his long career he has created several memorable characters and features including Ramu and Shamu, Kapish, Rekha, Fact Fantasy, Funland and Funtime, which continue to be serialized in leading newspapers and magazines.
