Mumbai: Smytten today announced the appointment of Shishir Varma as Chief Executive Officer of PulseAI Research Powered by Smytten, marking a significant step in the company’s push to redefine consumer intelligence through AI-led insights. The move comes as the platform surpasses 150 enterprise clients within 18 months, highlighting strong adoption across industries.
Shishir brings over 30 years of global experience in consumer insights, having led P&L businesses across APAC, India, China, and Japan. Most recently, he served as Managing Director, Insights at Kantar Japan and played a key role in building and scaling Millward Brown in India. Known for translating data into actionable business decisions, he has worked closely with CXOs across sectors.
“Consumer research has been constrained by speed, scale, and the authenticity of data. With PulseAI Research, we’re fundamentally rethinking that model by combining real product interactions with AI-led insights to create a more reliable and dynamic understanding of consumers. What excites me the most is the ability to tap into observed behavior and unlock insights that are not just faster, but significantly more predictive and actionable.
We believe the future of consumer intelligence will be built on real-world interactions at scale, not just surveys. PulseAI Research represents a new category where AI meets live consumer behavior, enabling brands to make sharper, more confident decisions in days, not weeks. The opportunity to build this intelligence layer-powered by millions of authentic product experiences and translate it into meaningful outcomes for brands, is incredibly compelling.” said Shishir Varma, CEO, PulseAI Research.
“We are thrilled to welcome Shishir as the CEO of PulseAI Research. He is highly relevant for where we are taking this platform, given his deep grounding in insights and analytics, strong credibility with brands, and proven ability to scale data-led platforms globally. He has the rare combination of a builder’s mindset and large-company experience, having set up and grown Millward Brown (now part of Kantar) in India from scratch. We are confident that he will help us disrupt the consumer intelligence space and evolve PulseAI Research into a category-leading, AI-driven intelligence engine,” said Siddhartha Nangia, Co-founder, Smytten and PulseAI Research.
Formerly known as Smytten PulseAI, the platform has been rebranded to PulseAI Research to reflect a sharper focus on integrating AI-powered research with real consumer behaviour and always-on insights. The evolution signals a shift from traditional, project-based research models to a more agile and intelligence-led approach.
In under 18 months, the platform has partnered with over 150 enterprise clients, underlining growing demand for faster and more reliable alternatives to conventional research methodologies.
At its core, PulseAI Research leverages Smytten’s ecosystem of over 30 million users, built through years of high-intent consumer engagement, product discovery, and purchase behaviour. Unlike traditional research panels that rely on claimed responses, the platform enables brands to access observed, real-world consumer behaviour at scale.
Combining behavioural data with advanced AI and large language model-driven analysis, the platform delivers real-time consumer sentiment, scalable qualitative insights, faster quantitative research, and continuous brand intelligence—enabling brands to move from static studies to always-on, agile decision-making systems.
