Aadil Bandukwala

I built and lead HackerRank's Content Studio: an in-house creative engine that uses AI, virtual production, and editorial storytelling to drive brand authority and pipeline across global markets. What we've built: ◆ A virtual production studio with a VP screen (one of the first in India's B2B tech space), professional cinematography capabilities, and real-time 3D environments powered by Unreal Engine 5 and Resolume Arena 7. ◆ An AI-native content workflow using Claude Code (with custom MCP servers for real-time social analytics), Runway ML, HeyGen, Higgsfield AI, and DaVinci Resolve Studio that lets a team of 4 produce at the velocity of teams 5x our size. ◆ Hackanomics: a new media brand we launched from scratch. Crossed 100K+ combined subscribers on Instagram and YouTube within 8 months. Zero ad spend. Pure craft and consistency. ◆ A global events programme including our Customer Advisory Board: intimate, high-signal sessions with VP Engineering, CTOs, and CHROs from Fortune 1000 companies across Bangalore, London, and New York and the Innovator Awards (in partnership with Economic Times), which convenes 400+ senior technology and HR leaders annually. ◆ A Campus Ambassadors programme that bridges our B2B platform with the next generation of developers through university partnerships. I report to the CEO and co-founder. My focus is on turning content from a cost center into a compounding growth asset: one that earns trust, builds community, and creates demand without buying it.

Led global demand generation and customer marketing across North America, EMEA, and APAC. Partnering with sales, product marketing, and field teams to build integrated pipeline programs across enterprise, mid-market, and self-serve segments. Key outcomes: → Delivered 4X to 6X pipeline targets for 6 consecutive quarters — a streak built on programmatic ABM, high-value content, customer storytelling, and tight sales-marketing alignment. → Scaled HackerRank's social media footprint from 200K to 2M+ followers on LinkedIn, with meaningful growth across YouTube (240K), Twitter (95K), and Instagram (124K) — all organic. → Evolved customer marketing from a support function into a strategic growth lever: driving advocacy, case study production, expansion pipeline, and renewal support across the install base. → Launched and scaled thought leadership formats: livestreams, podcasts, gated research that reinforced HackerRank's category position in developer hiring and AI skills assessment. Reported to the Chief Revenue Officer.

Took ownership of HackerRank's B2B demand generation and customer marketing engine during a period of rapid global expansion. Built the strategic and operational foundation that would later scale into a VP-level function. Pioneered new content formats: livestreams, podcasts, and high-value gated assets to engage developer and buyer audiences. Managed HackerRank's global social media presence across channels reaching 2M+ followers, crafting distinct strategies for B2B and B2C audiences. Drove field marketing, ABM, and event programmes to ensure GTM consistency across channels and geographies.

Built and led HackerRank's marketing function across APAC: demand generation, category awareness, brand, and customer advocacy for a platform serving 2,000+ companies globally. This was a ground-up build: establishing regional GTM playbooks, localizing global campaigns, and creating market-specific thought leadership to drive awareness and pipeline in a competitive talent technology landscape.

A podcast decoding points, miles, and credit card rewards for the Indian traveler. Real strategies, real stories: helping people travel smarter using reward systems most don't know exist. Also an exercise in what I do professionally: building a niche content brand from zero and growing an audience organically.

A long-form interview series featuring the marketing leaders behind some of the world's most pioneering brands. The show skipped the jargon and went straight to the how: how campaigns got built, how GTM strategies actually played out, and what marketers learned in the messy middle between ambition and execution.

Joined Belong.co (backed by Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners) as one of the earliest go-to-market hires and grew from evangelist to VP Marketing over four years. The defining work: creating the "Outbound Hiring" category from scratch. This wasn't just positioning: it was a full category-creation play involving thought leadership, field evangelism, content, PR, demand generation, and a book. ◆ Authored "Outbound Hiring: How Innovative Companies Are Winning the Global War for Talent" published by Bloomsbury, with a foreword by Gopal Vittal (CEO, Bharti Airtel). Available in print and digital worldwide. ◆ Built and scaled the full marketing function: product marketing, PR, digital, demand generation, customer marketing, and field enablement. ◆ Developed and executed the company's public relations and thought leadership strategy, positioning Belong as the pioneer of AI-driven lateral hiring in India. This was the experience that taught me what it takes to build a category, not just run campaigns and it remains the lens through which I approach every GTM challenge.

Partnered with the world's largest enterprises: Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, InMobi, Oracle, Mercedes Benz, Target, Honeywell to build their social recruiting strategies and employer brands on LinkedIn. Consulted with CXOs and talent leadership teams on direct sourcing, employer branding in the digital age, and maximizing ROI from LinkedIn's hiring solutions. Conducted quarterly workshops for leadership teams on "Talent at Scale" and building talent brand evangelism. In 2015, focused on ramping LinkedIn's Enterprise accounts in India and boosting LinkedIn's own thought leadership presence in the market. This role gave me an insider's understanding of how the world's largest professional network thinks about talent, brand, and distribution: knowledge I've applied to every role since.

Was part of the Global Talent Acquisition Social Media strategy team responsible for crafting and executing the Talent Acquisition Social Media strategy in India. Supported social media channels to help effectively communicate Dell's Employment Brand as well as increase overall application rate & hires from social media. Researched & recommended best practices / uses of Social Media in India from the Talent Acquisition perspective. Work extensively on Employment Branding for the India region beefing up Dell India's Employer Brand quotient across different talent marketplaces. Upskilled the Dell India Talent Acquisition Team on using different social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Glassdoor, Youtube and Klout to improve their social personas, scale their professional brands, improve their abilities from a direct sourcing standpoint and transform into new age recruiting rockstars.

Founded and ran a recruitment and executive search firm serving clients including Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, KEC Group, and Ambuja Cements. Managed end-to-end search delivery, client relationships, and candidate pipeline development. This was my first real education in how businesses think about talent, from the demand side.

Built an internet consulting firm focused on web development, e-commerce, and digital marketing for SMEs across the US, UK, Australia, and India. From Wordpress customization to SEO to Photoshop, did it all. The entrepreneurial foundation that everything else was built on.

Went to SCMHRD to attend the full time residential program of Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management. Dropped Out after the first semester to study and pursue entrepreneurship.

Studied Business Entrepreneurship at EDI, Ahmedabad. Topped the Class of 2005 and secured the Gold Medal. Was also awarded 'Student of the Year' by Bharti Foundation & EDI.

Student of the Year - 2004 at Bharatesh College of Business Administration affiliated to Karnataka University, Dharward presented with Director's Award in 2004 for scholastic performance.