Suneel is the Co-founder and Partner at Pitchfork Partners and a veteran leader with over 45 years of experience across India’s advertising and public relations ecosystem. A qualified Chartered Accountant by training, he began his career in financial accounting before following his entrepreneurial instinct into advertising—an early shift that would go on to shape several defining chapters of India’s communications landscape.
His core expertise spans strategic communications, corporate and financial communications, reputation management, IPO and capital markets advisory, and leadership positioning. In 1985, he co-founded CLEA Advertising & Marketing and later CLEA Public Relations, creating one of India’s earliest integrated brand communications platforms. Under his leadership, CLEA grew to become India’s seventh-largest advertising agency by the mid-1990s, with over 400 professionals across 20 locations, and earned a strong reputation as India’s leading specialist in financial communications and IPOs. Established in 1995, CLEA PR emerged as the country’s No. 1 PR firm within three years.
Continuing his entrepreneurial journey, Suneel founded Hanmer & Partners in 1999. By the time it joined Publicis Groupe in 2007, the firm had grown into a large, multi-city integrated communications consultancy serving leading Indian conglomerates and multinational corporations. The firm was later rebranded as Hanmer MSL and subsequently MSLGROUP. In 2008, extending his impact beyond communications, Suneel founded the India Art Summit, India’s first art fair, contributing meaningfully to the growth of the country’s contemporary art ecosystem.
Under his leadership, the firm received multiple national and international recognitions, including Indian Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report and honours at Asia Pacific PR Week. Suneel was also recognised as PR Professional of the Year and has served on juries of global platforms such as Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx.
In January 2015, Suneel co-founded Pitchfork Partners Strategic Communications LLP - India’s first strategic communications consultancy focused on business, reputation, and leadership communication. In the same year, Suneel was honoured with the IPRCCA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Widely respected across the global communications fraternity, Suneel is known for his institution-building approach, long-term perspective, and conviction that communication is a strategic business function.
