Amazon’s vp of global video advertising, Krishan Bhatia, is leaving the company, according to Amazon.
The company said in a statement, “Krishan Bhatia has made the decision to leave Amazon. We’re grateful for his contributions to the Amazon Ads organization, and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment further regarding details of Bhatia’s last day and whether Amazon had a replacement lined up.
A veteran of NBCUniversal, Bhatia had only been at Amazon since April 2024, taking on an expansive, newly-created role that included Prime Video ads strategy, go-to-market, and sales, ADWEEK reported at the time.
Over the past year, Amazon has expanded on its video ad formats, introducing new shoppable ad formats in May 2024 and touting their success with clients like Duracell. The company also expanded its Shop the Show format this April across more content on Prime. In its most recent upfront, Amazon touted a scaled-up live sports offering, where the NBA helped provide incremental volume growth.
Bhatia is a longtime TV exec, who had been at Comcast since 2005 and matriculated to NBCU in 2011 after it was acquired by the internet service provider. In 2021, then-NBCU ads chief Linda Yaccarino promoted Bhatia, who served as NBCUniversal’s president and chief business officer, global advertising and partnerships, before moving to Amazon in 2024.
Read the farewell note obtained by ADWEEK below:
Hi Everyone,
After an amazing chapter at Amazon Ads, I have decided to transition out of my current role.
It has been a privilege to create and lead the Global Video Advertising & Partnerships organization, and I am incredibly proud of the industry-leading team that is now in place and will continue to build the business.
Since the launch of Prime Video Ads, this team has helped lead the global expansion into 15 countries around the world – most recently the Netherlands and New Zealand. Together we launched and grew Amazon into the global leader in premium streaming TV advertising, led with Upfronts in the US and around the world, built a Brand Partnerships capability to allow marketers to more closely align with our global IP, expanded Live Sports advertising into a multi-sports and global offering, relaunched our Local Advertising business with a partner-first approach and turned agency and technology partners into force multipliers for our customers by partnering to make Amazon DSP the best solution for them across premium publisher and open internet supply.
Personally, it was especially rewarding to meet and work with so many of you directly – getting to spend invaluable time with our teams in countries around the world and jointly building trust and a shared vision with our customers. I am grateful for your partnership and support throughout!
Thank you to Paul, Alan, the Amazon Ads leadership team, Mike Hopkins and so many leaders across Prime Video & MGM Studios and Amazon for the opportunity to be part of this amazing company and team.
Wishing you all continued success and looking forward to staying in touch.
Article updated 9/7 at 4:00pm ET to include Bhatia’s farewell note