When Gautam Reghunath co-founded Talented.Agency last year, he took all of his experience as an executive agency leader with him. After spending more than a decade shaping Dentsu’s footprint in India as CEO of Dentsu Webchutney, now known as Dentsu Creative, Reghunath left on a high note. He had earned 27 Cannes Lions in his tenure, and in 2022 the shop became the first Indian agency to win Agency of the Year and had the highest-grossing year in its history. 

All this, despite the fact that Reghunath, 37, started his career with a marked dislike of advertising. His father got him a job in the industry, but it wasn’t until he transitioned from indie to network agency that he flourished.

“I was a terrible client-servicing person, and I just did not enjoy the job,” Reghunath said. When he was charged with opening a new office for Dentsu, he found his place. “I love bringing people together and making creative teams tick. Getting the best out of them is hard work, and not many in advertising take that aspect of our job seriously.” 

Now, as CEO of Talented.Agency, Reghunath created an agency that is 20% employee-owned and offers flexible time off, compensation and hiring practices. The strategy helped Talented compete to win clients including Google and Walmart and bring home three Cannes Lions in the agency’s first year. 

If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

Football [soccer] coach José Mourinho. He’s a pretty antagonizing figure. In all the teams he’s managed, he built this “us against the world” mentality. I used to believe in that a lot. Not anymore, but I still find that supremely fascinating. 

What are the top two social media sites you use on a regular basis?

X and Reddit. Unfortunately, TikTok is banned in India, so Reddit is my sort of go-to search engine now. 

What’s currently on your bedside reading list?

I read a lot of fiction, and the latest was “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin. It’s my favorite thing I’ve read in ages. It’s a love story. It’s a work story. It makes you cry and laugh and everything. I’ve been gifting it a lot. 

What was the last show you binge-watched?

“The Bear.”

At what age do you hope to retire?

Part of the advantage of being an entrepreneur is that you can devise the work life that you want. I know the kind of stuff in my line of work that I do not enjoy doing, and you can compensate for that by hiring folks who do enjoy it. I can see myself doing this a long time, but 45 sounds nice.