Publicis Sapient appoints Harshu Deshpande as Product and Engineering Lead for Australia
Publicis Sapient, a digital business transformation company, has today announced the appointment of Harshu Deshpande to the newly created role of VP, Product and Engineering Lead for Australia. The appointment underscores the importance of Australia to Publicis Sapient’s ongoing global expansion and reflects the company’s strong focus on AI-enhanced engineering and transformation. Deshpande will be based in Melbourne.
“We are thrilled to welcome Harshu to lead our engineering and product teams in Australia. His deep expertise and innovative mindset align perfectly with our commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions for clients,” says Angela Robinson, Country Managing Director, Australia, Publicis Sapient.
“At a time when businesses are actively seeking fresh perspectives and transformative partnerships, Harshu’s appointment underscores our continued ability to attract top talent, enabling us to better serve our clients as they navigate this exciting and rapidly evolving AI-powered world.”
In this role, Deshpande will lead multi-disciplinary teams, delivering large-scale and agile transformation programs and spearheading the delivery of innovative, scalable technology solutions for clients in Australia. He and his teams will leverage Publicis Sapient’s AI platforms, such as Sapient Slingshot and Bodhi, to drive faster, more effective results. Operating within Publicis Sapient’s integrated SPEED – Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, Data and AI – framework, Deshpande will foster world-class engineering talent and champion breakthrough practices to meet clients’ evolving AI-driven needs.
Deshpande’s appointment builds on the strategic addition of Gavin Seewooruttun as Vice President, Data and AI Lead for Australia. Together, their roles form a powerful combination of engineering, delivery and AI leadership that will drive integrated, next-generation solutions for clients across the region.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Publicis Sapient at a pivotal moment,” says Deshpande. “AI is fundamentally reshaping engineering and the value clients are looking for, and with our proprietary AI platforms and SPEED capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to accelerate legacy modernisation, scale AI implementations and deliver end-to-end business transformation. I look forward to unlocking significant value and driving innovation alongside this talented team.”
Throughout his career, Deshpande has focused on creating tangible value for clients and empowering teams to thrive amid rapid change. He brings over 20 years of experience in leading and delivering digital products, services and ventures for clients ranging from high-growth startups to large enterprises. Most recently, as Field CTO and Advisor for Digital Natives at Google, he played a pivotal role in scaling high-growth Australian startups, leveraging deep expertise in product engineering, cloud strategy, and agile transformation to guide their successful launch and expansion.
Prior to Google, Deshpande served as Managing Director for Slalom Build in APAC where he launched and scaled a high-performing team of more than 150 engineers, designers, and product owners across Australia and Japan. Over 15 years he also held technology leadership roles at Accenture driving large-scale application transformations and cloud adoption. His leadership and contribution to the engineering community were recognized with a high commendation for Management Excellence at the 2021 ARN Innovation Awards.