AKQA has opened its first office in India, based in Gurgaon, which will also be the Adobe Marketing Cloud Technology Centre of Excellence for the agency. The team there will be led by chief technology officer Ben Jones and director of client services Anurag Bhatnagar. Bhatnagar previously led Havas Media's Digital portfolio in India. Jones has been AKQA's CTO since 2012. The Gurgaon office is expected to employ around 50 staff by the end of the year.
AKQA Opens in India, Puga Joins DM9DDB and More
Sao Paolo-based agency DM9DDB has appointed Igor Puga to the role of chief interactive officer, responsible for guiding the process of integrating interactive thinking and its digital tools across all the agency's clients. Puga, who starts next month, will also join the executive board. Puga joins from ID/TBWA, where he has worked since 2007. Prior to that, he worked at agencies including Africa, JWT and Publicis. He has been a jury member for the New York Advertising Festival and the London International Awards.

Advertising and digital marketing firm Pilgrim, Denver, has promoted Dan Buchmeier to associate creative director, a new position, responsible for the agency's AAA Colorado, Grand Junction Visitor and Convention Bureau and Colorado Wildlife Council accounts. Previously, Buchmeier was senior art director on all Pilgrim accounts and, before joining the agency in October 2013, senior art director at Pollinate, Portland, Ore., on Leatherman and Sur la Table.
Jesse McMillin is joining Lyft, the transport app, as creative director. He was previously creative director at Virgin America. Before joining Virgin America in 2007, he was a senior designer at Nike's European Headquarters in Amsterdam. His background also includes time as art director for Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West, a stint as a graphic designer for Levi Strauss & Co. and a variety of work in the skateboard industry as a designer and illustrator.