Santosh B. Pathak

Regulated industries don't have to be boring industries.

Santosh B. Pathak
MarTech · AI-first · BFSI Mumbai · FY27
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02 - The declaration

I don't run digital marketing. I build the engine.

14 years. Two agencies built. One BFSI digital function rebuilt from zero - 2M users, $300K innovation funded, 70+ awards, 27M MarTech events. Not inherited. Built.

14Years operating
2Agencies built
1BFSI engine rebuilt
FY27Open mandate
03 - Five views I won't water down 01 / 05
Belief 01
Campaigns. Systems.

A campaign decays the day it ends. A system compounds. Ship one durable funnel, not ten clever activations.

Belief 02
AI as a feature. AI as the operating model.

"AI strategy" is a slide. AI-first is a re-architecture of how content, segmentation, and decisioning actually run.

Belief 03
Top-of-funnel sessions. Full-funnel accountability.

Marketing's KPI is qualified pipeline closed, not sessions delivered. Anything else is decoration.

Belief 04
"BFSI is boring." Regulated & inventive.

Constraint is creative fuel. The best work I've shipped happened inside compliance, not despite it.

Belief 05
Inherited metrics. Built ones - with my name on them.

Under-claim a built number before you over-claim an inherited one. Every number on this page is verifiable.

Three layers. One engine.

A digital function isn't a campaign calendar - it's an operating system. Strategy on top, MarTech in the middle, distribution at the floor. All built in-house. All auditable.

01The thinking

Strategy - the brain.

Full-funnel architecture. AI-first operating model. Innovation roadmaps that get funded - not filed.

Full-funnelAI-firstCDP designInnovation cases
02The plumbing

MarTech - the wiring.

CDP, analytics, headless web, real-time lead pipelines. Wired so the data actually moves - and gets audited cleanly.

CleverTapLeadSquaredGA4LookerStrapi (headless)WCAG 2.1 AA
03The surface

Distribution - the face.

Hyperlocal SEO, social growth engines, performance + brand stewardship - at audit-ready scale, under full IRDAI compliance.

SEO · 202 #1Social · 20×Performance170 GBPsIRDAI compliant
- 04 · The receipts

Not inherited. Built.

№ 01 · Platform Rebuilt 2022 · Strapi headless · WCAG 2.1 AA
0M

Website users on the Strapi rebuild - with 100% traffic growth, built from a static brochure site.

Avg keyword rank 40.5 → 11.4
202 keywords at #1

№ 02 · Pipeline FY26 · Lead-to-call < 2min
0K

Qualified leads in FY26 - through a pipeline that didn't exist 12 months earlier.

Web → LeadSquared → enrichment
→ routing → telephony

№ 03 · Innovation Dai-ichi Life Innovation Fund · 2024
$0K

Secured for Desh Ka Insurance - a PWA for rural POS agents. $100K PoC + $200K seed.

DINO blockchain credential
1st of its kind · Indian BFSI

№ 04 · Engagement You Matter · Wellness app
0K

App installs on You Matter - with DAU/MAU up 35% through retention-first feature marketing.

Reframed from CSR tile
to core engagement asset

№ 05 · Recognition National industry awards
0+

National awards for digital marketing excellence - DKI, You Matter, social, platform innovation. Plus the DINO blockchain credential from Dai-ichi Holdings.

Awards are receipts -
not strategy.

№ 06 · Instrumentation CleverTap · GA4 · Looker · LeadSquared
0M

MarTech events tracked across web, app and CRM. Real-time funnel analytics where there was previously none.

Every rupee attributable
every cohort queryable

- The line

Inherited. Built.

05 - Fourteen years, one thread Scroll →
2011 - 2014

Business Analyst

Addya Technologies

Pioneered ERP-synced e-commerce for Baggit - their first online revenue stream. Campaigns for Volkswagen and Vodafone.

2 Abby awards First exposure to BFSI
2014 - 2021

Founder · Operator

Merging Layers

Built and ran the agency. Lead-gen frameworks for BFSI and FMCG - Pidilite Industrial among them. Won multi-agency contests.

₹40L → ₹6 Cr revenue 15× run · BFSI vertical established
2021

Group Head · Client Solutions

Isobar / Dentsu

360° pan-India Kingfisher Radler launch - ₹3 Cr campaign with full MarTech stack. Brand governance for AmEx's '100-Year' campaign.

₹60L HDFC ERGO retention Skore influencer engine
2021 - 2022

Vice President · Digital Solutions

Marmalade Digital

Transformed an ops-driven agency into a solutions-first consultancy. Packaged MarTech, performance and creative into integrated offers.

₹40L → ₹6 Cr in one year +60% project TAT improvement
2022 - present

Sr. Manager · Marketing

Star Union Dai-ichi Life

Built digital from zero: Strapi rebuild, full MarTech stack, 30K leads in FY26, $300K innovation funding for DKI, 170K installs on You Matter, 70+ awards.

2M users · 27M events ₹7 Cr budget · IRDAI compliant
FY27 →

AVP / Director · Head of Digital

Open · BFSI mandate

For a BFSI organisation rebuilding digital from zero - or scaling one through MarTech, CDP and AI. A builder, not a manager of inherited stacks.

Mumbai · or relocation The best ideas are still ahead
2011FY27 →

Six platforms. One operator.

Each of these started as a 'no'. Each became a system with revenue, recognition or both attached.

01
Innovation platform · 2024 - present

Desh Ka Insurance (DKI)

A first-of-its-kind PWA enabling rural POS agents to onboard, train and sell microinsurance across India. Conceptualised, pitched, funded, shipped.

$300K Innovation funded DINO blockchain credential
02
Platform & MarTech · 2022 - present

SUD Life Digital Rebuild

End-to-end Strapi headless website, full MarTech stack from scratch, 170+ hyperlocal pages, lead pipeline with sub-2-minute latency. ₹7 Cr budget under full IRDAI compliance.

2M / 27M / 30K Users · Events · Leads WCAG 2.1 AA · audit-ready
03
Engagement app · 2023 - present

You Matter Wellness

Reframed a passive customer-service app into an engagement engine through retention-first product marketing. Lifecycle CRM, feature-marketing sprints, behavioural events end-to-end.

170K · +35% Installs · DAU/MAU lift Brand affinity metric lifted
04
Generative AI · FY27 · In build

In-house AI Content Studio

A generative-AI content production system architected to clear IRDAI in a single pass. Generative tooling for first drafts, human editorial for taste, compliance baked into the workflow.

3× / 2× / 100% Output · SoV · Compliance Audit-clean, human-reviewed
05
Brand & community · 2022 - present

Social Growth Engine

Near-zero to scaled, engaged community across Instagram and Facebook - without leaning on heavy paid. Content strategy, creator partnerships, calendar and analytics grounded in earned engagement.

20× · ~3× Instagram · Facebook 170 Google Business Listings
06
Operator · 2014 - 2022

Agency Transformations

Two agencies turned from operations shops into solutions consultancies. Productised services, SOPs across Strategy / Creative / Tech pods, outcome-based pricing.

15× · +60% Revenue scale · TAT 2 agencies transformed

The best ideas I have are still ahead.

If you're a BFSI leader staring at the gap between brand ambition and digital reality - I want to hear about it.

Santosh B. Pathak · Mumbai, IN · +91 81081 19888
© 2026 · Open to AVP / Director · FY27