Publicis Groupe Appoints Kanika Bains as VP & Head – People & Culture, MSL India

Publicis Groupe has appointed Kanika Bains as Vice President and Head – People & Culture at MSL India, effective September 2026.

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She will lead the people agenda for MSL India, focusing on employee-related priorities and supporting the organisation’s people and culture requirements. Her new role follows extensive experience in talent acquisition and HR.

Extensive Experience

Kanika brings around 20 years of experience in human resources, talent acquisition and recruitment across public relations, retail, digital payments, media and advertising-related businesses.

Before joining MSL India, she spent over four years at Edelman as Vice President – Talent Acquisition, leading talent acquisition for India and supporting priority roles across Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia. She was also part of the Employer Branding team.

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Earlier, she served as Head – Talent Acquisition at Reliance Brands Limited for around one year. Her responsibilities included managing the Talent Acquisition Centre of Excellence, corporate recruitment and projects to improve the hiring process and candidate experience.

Kanika spent over 10 years at Paytm, progressing through Manager, Senior Manager, Assistant General Manager and Deputy General Manager – Talent Acquisition roles. She handled hiring for product, business and growth functions.

She began her career at Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group) in 2006 as an HR Executive. She later worked at Times OOH and 94.3 MY FM, part of the Dainik Bhaskar Group.

Education details were not available in the shared professional information.

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About MSL India

MSL is Publicis Groupe’s public relations and integrated communications network, operating through three brands in India: MSL India, 20:20 MSL and PCA. It provides communications counsel and creative campaigns to build influence and deliver impact.

The firm has received several industry recognitions, including Asia Consultancy of the Year and India Consultancy of the Year awards. It was also recognised as a Great Place to Work in 2014, 2015 and 2016.