Mihir Dhairyawan has joined AI content production company Crash Test Pony as Executive Creative Director and Executive Producer, moving from Monks where he led creative for Southeast Asia.
In the Singapore-based role, Dhairyawan will connect creative strategy, brand storytelling and production, working alongside the studio’s AI artists and collaborating directors to develop and execute brand ideas.
What Crash Test Pony does
Crash Test Pony specialises in AI-powered content production. It makes AI films, animatics, content and previsualisation for brands, and operates across APAC and MENAT with teams in India and New Zealand. Its client portfolio already includes P&G and Unilever.
The India link is relevant for local marketers. While the studio is Singapore-based, its production teams in India and New Zealand make it a cross-border model, and the hire was reported from Mumbai, a market where AI-assisted content creation is moving fast.
Why this hire matters
Dhairyawan arrives with conventional craft pedigree. At Leo Burnett Singapore, he was Regional Creative Director on a portfolio of P&G brands and helped shape the Vicks #TouchOfCare campaign, alongside regional work for Sangobion, Neurobion, Slow-Mag and ZzzQuil. His campaigns have been recognised at Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Spikes Asia and Clio.
His career spans P&G, Unilever, Mondelez and Castrol across healthcare, FMCG, telecommunications and automotive. Now he moves that brand thinking into a studio built around AI-led production.
For marketing teams, that is the real plot. AI content production is growing beyond cheap filler. A studio that already serves P&G and Unilever is now pairing AI artists with an award-winning creative lead, which pushes AI work closer to crafted brand storytelling.
What marketers can do
- Treat AI production as a craft layer, not just a cost saver. Attach a senior creative owner to AI-generated ideas.
- Test AI animatics and previsualisation earlier to compress approvals and stress-test storylines.
- Watch how traditional brand-safety standards survive an AI pipeline, especially in healthcare and FMCG work.
The appointment does not come with a specific campaign yet. But the combination of a Cannes-recognised creative director and an AI production house with large FMCG clients is a useful test case for where agency and production models are heading.
Source: MediaNews4U
