Hardika Thakkar   

I am a digital marketing leader with over 9 years of experience, and my journey has been driven by a simple belief: meaningful digital transformation happens when business growth, innovation and people growth move together. Currently, I lead Earned Media at PivotRoots, working with a talented team and managing digital strategies across multiple brands spanning BFSI, healthcare, automotive, education, e-commerce and consumer businesses. Over the years, my role has evolved from being an individual contributor to leading people, managing complex digital mandates and becoming a strategic partner to clients. My experience spans digital and organic growth, enterprise and technical transformation, content strategy, large-scale website migrations, multilingual initiatives, ASO, Digital PR and emerging areas such as AEO, GEO, AI Overviews and LLM-led discovery. For me, digital transformation is not simply about adopting new technologies or improving visibility—it is about connecting digital strategy with measurable business outcomes. My teams and I have worked towards building scalable strategies that have contributed to 100% growth in leads through LLM-led platforms and 200% growth in leads through organic search. The work we have created has also received 7–8 recognitions across industry platforms, including DIGIXX, mCube, Drivers of Digital and Agency Reporter Awards. One achievement I particularly value is maintaining a 90% client retention rate. I see this as more than a business metric as it reflects the trust built through consistent delivery, transparent communication, strategic thinking and the ability to continuously evolve alongside our clients and their changing business requirements. Building long-term relationships and becoming an extension of a client’s team has been an important part of my leadership journey. At the same time, some of my most meaningful achievements cannot be measured only through numbers or awards. I strongly believe that great results are built by great teams. As a leader, I focus on creating an environment where people can take ownership, experiment, make decisions, learn from challenges and eventually lead independently. Seeing members of my team grow from executing tasks to owning strategies and client relationships has been one of the most rewarding parts of my journey. As digital behaviour evolves, I am also focused on preparing both brands and people for what comes next. Search and digital discovery are no longer limited to traditional search engines. I am actively exploring how AI, AEO, GEO, AI Overviews, LLM-led discovery and Search Everywhere Optimisation can become part of a more integrated digital strategy, one where success is measured not only through visibility and traffic, but through actual business outcomes such as leads and conversions. Going forward, my ambition is to continue building future-ready digital capabilities, strengthen long-term client partnerships and create greater measurable business value, while developing people who can independently lead the next generation of digital strategies. I want my individual growth to translate into greater opportunities for my team, stronger outcomes for my clients and meaningful contributions to the evolving digital ecosystem.