Paroma Roy Chowdhury

SVP & Corporate Communications Head
Byju’s
India

Newly-installed at edtech giant Byju’s, Paroma Roy Chowdhury has quietly built one of the most impressive resumes in India’s corporate communications sector, particularly when it comes to technology companies that are aiming to bridge local concerns with global ambitions. 

At Byju’s, she is tasked with building an integrated corporate communications strategy for a company that is well placed to capitalise on future education trends. She arrived there this year after a year at sports tech unicorn Dream Sports. Prior to that, Roy Chowdhury served in communications leadership roles at Softbank, Google, Bharti Airtel, HP and GE Capital. 

Roy Chowdhury began her career with a 10 year stint as a reporter and editor for Business Today, the Economic Times and Business Standard.

Can you share a moment in your career when you saw PR's direct impact on business performance?
At Google India, we implemented a program called 'Turn the Page', which had participation from sales, product, engineering, public policy and communications and sought to underline Google's contribution to India through a variety of messaging, partnerships, products, leadership showcasing and curated events. We ran it for 12 months. Our acceptability with the government went up exponentially, doors opened with new advertisers, employee morale was boosted and it had a direct positive impact on revenues.

What are the communications industry's biggest challenges and opportunities in the year ahead?
The need for greater alignment with clients given the realities of remote work; greater agility in the face of rapidly changing market and geopolitical realities; and heightened digital savviness.

What have you most admired about this industry over the past year?
Resilience and a desire and ability to partner during trying times.

What has most disappointed you about this industry over the past year?
Lack of authentic knowledge and information. A remarkable lack of news sense among younger members.

How have you switched off from work and maintained wellness over the past year?Long walks, yoga, connecting with family and friends and lots of reading, both fiction and non-fiction.

Which book/movie/TV show/podcast/playlist/other cultural source has helped you get through the past year or provided inspiration?
Barrack and Michelle Obama's speeches; Noble Laureate Abhijit V Banerjee’s essays; Wharton organisational psychology professor Adam Grant's LinkedIn posts.

If I wasn't working in marketing/communications, I would be...
Public policy think tank member or journalist.

Sum up 2022 in one word.
Optimism.