Publicis Sapient has appointed Harshu Deshpande to the newly created role of vice president, Product and Engineering Lead for Australia. Based in Melbourne, he will oversee multi-disciplinary teams delivering large-scale transformation programs and AI-driven technology solutions for clients.
Angela Robinson, country managing director, Publicis Sapient Australia, said: “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.”
Deshpande will work within Publicis Sapient’s SPEED framework (Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, Data and AI) and leverage proprietary AI platforms such as Sapient Slingshot and Bodhi. His appointment follows that of Gavin Seewooruttun as vice president, Data and AI Lead for Australia, strengthening the firm’s engineering and AI leadership locally.
“AI is fundamentally reshaping engineering and the value clients are looking for,” Deshpande said. “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.”
Deshpande brings more than 20 years’ experience in digital product and engineering leadership. Most recently, he was field CTO and advisor for Digital Natives at Google, where he helped scale high-growth Australian startups. He previously served as managing director of Slalom Build in APAC, leading a team of more than 150 engineers, designers, and product owners across Australia and Japan.
Earlier in his career, he spent 15 years in technology leadership roles at Accenture, driving large-scale application transformations and cloud adoption. His contribution to the industry was recognised with a high commendation for Management Excellence at the 2021 ARN Innovation Awards.