The HumanThe Human

What I actually do

ADG Advisory is the professional work - GenAI-first marketing strategy and fractional CMO services, built around the Saptarishi agent team and a framework I developed specifically for GCC workforces. The thinking behind it is simple: brands don't need agencies, they need internal teams that can actually do the work. ADG Advisory was built to act on that.

Bong Lebowski is where the logic goes sideways: raga structures over 303 basslines, performed live in Strudel. Uncle AB's is a mixer brand rooted in Bengali pantry flavours, made to order, never commercial. Both get their full stories further down this page.

The thread underneath all three: I like knowing how things work so I can build something useful around them. Zeros and ones are the most natural language I know for establishing that dialogue.

What I believe

There's no such thing as a bad product. Just bad timing.

Going viral is a moment. Sustainable growth is a legacy.

And one more thing the industry doesn't want to hear: most marketing AI is expensive theatre. It looks impressive in a demo and falls apart in the actual work. The difference between a working AI system and a slide deck with good screenshots is the gap I actually operate in - and it's where GCCs are getting it wrong right now. The fix isn't more prompts. It's better use cases.

How I work

Heavy Claude Code user. Everything else - Gemini, Gemma, OpenAI, Seedance, Nano Banana, Nemotron, Minimax, Kimi - slots in where it makes sense. Strudel for music. Github and Vercel for building.

But the tool is never the point. The point is explaining the result clearly enough that it actually works for you.

ELI5 is the operating framework. If I can't explain it like you're five, I don't understand it well enough.

Career, as levels

1. Level 1
   Ballygunge, KolkataWalking distance to everything that mattered.
2. Level 2
   First bylines, first jobINR 2,500 for a music-writing piece, never cashed. A short Rolling Stone stint. Then a copywriting internship at Happy Marketer, now Merkle Singapore.
3. Level 3
   Hoichoi - founding teamOnly marketer in a team of five. Built ASO, SEO, paid, social from zero.
4. Level 4
   The QA - India & MENAOnly Digital Strategist in the region. Every account, pitch to execution.
5. Level 5
   ADGtalFounded the practice - technical skill and marketing knowledge, put to real use.
6. Level 6
   pointdot - SydneyAn ADGtal client. 60 clients across their portfolio. Frameworks delivered. They called me expensive.
7. Level 7
   ADG Advisory - BangaloreADGtal became this. GenAI-first fractional CMO. Saptarishi agent team. Anti-agency thesis.
8. Now
   Bangalore, againBack. Catching up with twelve years of missed life.

Credentials

BBA from Annamalai University - the degree that ticks the box. The self-directed stuff mattered more: data science coursework from IIT Kharagpur, Johns Hopkins, and UC Davis, jazz improvisation from Berklee, and a Guinness World Record for a face-recognition app built in Python. The professional certifications that actually matter: Google Marketing Platform, Anthropic, Yandex Metrica. The full list lives on /consulting.

Off the clock

Where I grew up

Ballygunge, Kolkata. Walking distance to Park Circus, Gariahat, Golpark, Deshapriya Park. That fact shaped me more than any textbook - the art of walking long distances is still my comfort space, the place where I think clearest.

Wanted to be a cricketer, a scientist, an astronaut, a musician. Never had to pick just one.

The musician story

Mandolin, Hindustani classical, school concerts every year. Then a long gap while I figured out the marketing world.

Rediscovered music during Covid. SonicPi first - easier to set up, easier to start. Then TidalCycles, because the flexibility is worth the learning curve. Then Hydra and p5js for visuals, because performing without something to look at felt unfinished.

Why raga x acid? I'm a psychedelic rock fan. That genre had Indian classical influence for decades - Ananda Shankar, The Beatles, Shakti. Acid was invented by an Indian playing raga over beats. I didn't have to invent the connection. Just follow it.

Bong Lebowski: my nickname among friends. Certain qualities matched The Big Lebowski. The attitude. The one favourite drink. How I dress. A natural fit.

The mixer story

Uncle AB - also my wife's creation. Started with pizzas I made at home. The name caught on. Then it became a mixer brand, because that's what I also love doing: making drinks nobody else is making.

Uncle AB's is non-alcoholic because a good drink shouldn't be restrictive. Everyone should be able to enjoy it their own way, with whatever they'd normally mix in, alcohol or none.

Recipes exist. Tested on friends. Small-batch sales in Kolkata. Everything stays hand-made, made to order. No plans to go commercial. This is for the people who want something made properly.

The fun stuff

Gaming: Wolfenstein 3D on PC was the first real game. Bootlegged Cricket on PC before that - if you remember S. Tendehar, we were contemporaries. Unbranded console with “1000+ Games” cassettes. A PS4 bought with a full month's salary when I joined Hoichoi. Nintendo Switch now, playing Mario, Mario Kart, eFootball, Pokemon, and motion Boxing.

Music: First album: Dusk and Her Embrace by Cradle of Filth. Best concert: too many - Dream Theatre, Bryan Adams, Cradle of Filth, each for different reasons. Desert island: a vinyl player, all Black Sabbath records, unlimited specialty coffee.

I collect vinyl. Mostly Jazz, Blues, Heavy Metal, some psychedelic rock. Coffee is a ritual - I grind my own beans, V60 or Aeropress, two mugs in the morning, sometimes more in the evening.

Texture

Languages: English, Bengali, Hindi, some Kannada.

People are surprised by three things: My beard is apparently iconic now - people recognise me by it. I'm calm, focused, hardly distracted in rooms - people think it's grooming, it's just me. And I'm very introverted when I first meet someone - once we're friends, things can go wherever.

That's the whole picture. If you want to talk work or just say hello, I'm easy to find.