Asad Lalljee is the SVP of the Essar Group, CEO of Avid Learning – an arts and culture public programming platform, and the Curator of the Royal Opera House, Mumbai. He brings several years of advertising, publishing, marketing, and business development experience, spanning global and local markets. Before relocating to India, Asad worked for 14 years as one of the ‘Mad Men’ advertising executives on New York's Madison Avenue. He was with McCann-Erickson, and earlier with Hill Holiday, a subsidiary of advertising giant IPG. Under Asad’s leadership, Avid Learning has distinguished itself as India’s leading cultural hub and has grown its curatorial practice by leveraging domestic and international cultural collaborations through the diplomatic core and partnering with the existing creative ecosystem. Apart from Mumbai, Avid Learning has made its mark in New York, Dubai, Bangalore, Goa, New Delhi, and Jaipur, to name a few. Avid Learning has presented over 1,600 multiverse and hybrid programs, and together with its online platform – AVID Online, launched in 2020 – Avid Learning has reached 1.8 million interested learners, globally.In 2016, Asad was appointed curator of the newly restored Royal Opera House, Mumbai. He has since then successfully designed an avant-garde series of programs, re-establishing it as a performance space of international quality, a cultural venue par excellence, and a prime example of restored and renewed city heritage. In 2018, Asad was inducted into the prestigious FICCI Tourism and Culture Committee as a distinguished member. FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organization in Indian business with a glorious history of nine decades, for which Asad has pioneered and co-convened many prestigious conferences.In 2022, Asad was co-opted as Kala Ghoda Association’s Executive Committee member, with whom Avid Learning shares a decade-long partnership. He was also on the advisory board of the Mumbai Urban Art Festival 2022-2023 by St+Art India Foundation.Asad holds a B.A. in Economics from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and an M.A. in Global Marketing Communications from Emerson College, Boston.