India’s growing consumer market is bringing greater complexity to packaging and brand execution, with more SKUs, regional adaptations, shorter launch cycles and tighter regulatory requirements. Sean Silveira, client director, Marks, a Propelis company, discusses how Propelis is positioning India not only as a growth market but also as a creative, packaging and production hub for APAC and global brands. He explains how the integration of creative, packaging, production and technology capabilities is helping brands manage complexity, while AI and connected workflows are reshaping execution from concept to shelf.
Mahan Hazarika: India is being positioned as a priority market for Propelis within its Southeast Asia growth strategy. What makes India strategically different from other markets in the region, and what role do you expect India to play in Propelis’ global growth over the next three to five years?
Sean Silveira: India stands out because of its unique combination of scale, diversity and growth. Few markets require brands to simultaneously manage multiple languages, highly diverse consumer segments, fast-evolving retail channels and increasingly complex regulatory requirements.
For Propelis, India is important not only as a large consumer market but also as a strategic capability center. The country has strong expertise in creative production, packaging adaptation, technology-enabled workflows and brand operations. We expect India to play a dual role: as a key growth market in its own right and as a hub supporting regional and global brand execution across APAC.
Mahan Hazarika: The merger of SGK and SGS & Co brought together creative, packaging, production and technology capabilities. More than a year after the merger, what has changed for customers in practical terms?
Sean Silveira: The biggest change is simplification. Historically, many brands managed multiple partners across design, packaging graphics, production, print management and workflow technology. The Propelis model brings those capabilities together within a connected ecosystem, one that simplifies complexity.
In practical terms, customers now have access to integrated expertise spanning creative development, packaging adaptation, production execution and technology-enabled workflow management. This reduces fragmentation, improves collaboration and provides greater visibility across the entire execution process. The objective is to help brands move faster while maintaining consistency and control.
Mahan Hazarika: Packaging appears to be at the center of Propelis’ integrated go-to-market proposition. How is the company helping brands move from packaging design and artwork to production and ultimately the shelf more efficiently?
Sean Silveira: Packaging sits at the intersection of brand experience, compliance, supply chain execution and consumer engagement. Propelis supports brands across the full packaging lifecycle, from design to adaptation and artwork development through prepress, print production, workflow management and deployment. By connecting these traditionally separate stages, brands can reduce operational complexity, improve governance and accelerate speed to market.
The focus is not simply on creating packaging assets but on building an integrated process that improves execution quality and consistency from concept through production and retail deployment.
Mahan Hazarika: Indian FMCG brands are dealing with frequent SKU launches, regional languages, regulatory changes, promotional packs and increasingly fragmented retail channels. What are the biggest operational challenges you see brands struggling with today, and where can Propelis make the greatest difference?
Sean Silveira: The biggest challenge is managing complexity at scale. Brands are creating significantly more packaging variations, promotional assets and channel-specific content than ever before. At the same time, they must maintain brand consistency, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.
Where Propelis can make the greatest difference is by helping brands create connected workflows that bring together creative adaptation, packaging management, localization and production execution. This enables organizations to manage increasing complexity without creating unnecessary operational burden.
Mahan Hazarika: Quick commerce is changing packaging requirements, particularly around pack formats, visibility, promotional cycles and speed to market. How is Propelis adapting its packaging and creative workflows to support brands operating in this environment?
Sean Silveira: Quick commerce has accelerated the need for agility. Brands are operating with shorter promotional cycles, more frequent packaging updates and growing requirements for digital-first product visibility. This places increased pressure on creative and packaging teams to deliver assets faster and with greater accuracy.
Our response is to help brands streamline adaptation, approvals and production workflows through more connected operating models and technology-enabled processes. The goal is to support faster execution without compromising quality, compliance or brand consistency.
Mahan Hazarika: AI is increasingly being incorporated into creative and packaging workflows. Where do you see AI delivering genuine value today, and where do you still believe human expertise is indispensable?
Sean Silveira: AI is already delivering value in areas that involve scale, repetition and workflow efficiency. Examples include content adaptation, asset management, workflow automation and supporting packaging-related processes where large volumes of information need to be managed consistently. These are our own bespoke AI solutions that we have built, which helps us work smarter, move faster, and create greater value for our teams, and most importantly, for our clients.
However, human expertise remains essential in areas such as strategic thinking, creative judgement, cultural understanding, regulatory interpretation and brand stewardship. AI can accelerate execution, but brands still rely on experienced professionals to make decisions that require context, nuance and accountability. In short, we’re Human-Centric + Tech-Powered.
Mahan Hazarika: Propelis talks about providing greater visibility, speed and control from concept to shelf. Can you share any measurable outcomes or examples where this connected model has reduced launch timelines, costs, errors or complexity for a customer?
Sean Silveira: While we do not publicly disclose customer-specific performance metrics, what we consistently hear from brands is that reducing fragmentation across functions creates significant operational benefits.
By connecting creative, packaging, production and technology workflows, organizations gain better visibility into execution, fewer process handoffs and stronger governance. The value is often reflected in improved coordination, reduced complexity and more efficient management of large-scale content and packaging programmes.
Mahan Hazarika: With brands increasingly demanding shorter turnaround times, how is Propelis investing in technology, automation and workflow platforms in India? Are there specific capabilities or investments that you expect to add over the next 12–24 months?
Sean Silveira: Technology is a core pillar of the Propelis proposition. The company has publicly positioned workflow automation, cloud-smart platforms and AI-enabled capabilities as important enablers of future growth. Through solutions such as 5Flow and broader technology investments, the focus is on helping brands improve visibility, automation and execution efficiency.
Regarding future investments, Propelis has communicated a continued focus on automation, AI-enabled workflows and scalable technology platforms that support content and packaging operations globally.
Mahan Hazarika: India is also becoming an important production and creative hub for global brands. Do you see India primarily as a market you are serving, or increasingly as a center from which Propelis can deliver creative, packaging and production services to other markets?
Sean Silveira: We see India as both. India is an important growth market with significant opportunities across FMCG, retail and food & beverage. At the same time, the country’s talent base and operational capabilities make it a valuable center for supporting global and local brands. The combination of local market expertise and scalable delivery capabilities positions India as an increasingly important contributor to Propelis’ broader APAC and global operating model.
Mahan Hazarika: How do you see the relationship between brand owners, creative agencies, packaging converters and technology providers changing? Does Propelis ultimately see itself becoming the connective layer between these traditionally separate functions?
Sean Silveira: The traditional model of disconnected specialist partners is becoming increasingly difficult to manage as brands face growing complexity and faster execution demands. What brands increasingly need is greater integration across the ecosystem, from strategy and creative development through packaging, production and technology enablement.
Propelis was built around that principle. By bringing together creative, packaging, production and technology capabilities, the company is designed to help connect functions that have historically operated in silos. The objective is not to replace specialist expertise, but to create a more connected operating model that improves collaboration, transparency and execution effectiveness across the brand lifecycle.
