Santosh Padhi, or 'Paddy', as he is popularly known, has had a highly distinguished career in advertising spanning 25+ years. An art graduate from Mumbai, he started his carrier with DDB (Mudra) that was followed by a fruitful 10-year stint at Leo Burnett where he was an Executive Creative Director and the National Head of Art.

Paddy founded Taproot in 2009 and after 12 wonderful years of creative success, in March 2022 he took the mandate to take the W+K creative legacy forward in India. 

In the last 12 years, Paddy turned Taproot into one of the most creative powerhouses not only in India but globally as well. In its very first year (2010) Taproot was the only agency in Asia to win a Gold Clio. The same year the agency was rated the No. 1 Independent Agency from India at Cannes and ranked amongst the Top 20 Independent Agencies in the World in the Cannes Survey. The agency was also declared the Best Performing Agency from India at Adfest Thailand 2010; Best Performing Indian Agency in 2011 at Spikes Asia; Runner-up for Best Performing Independent Agency in Asia in 2012.

In 2012 Taproot was declared Indian & South Asian “Creative Agency of The Year” by Campaign Asia; topped Gunn report in India twice and been in top three for several years; won "Creative Agency Of The Year" title at Adfest (first ever Indian agency to win this); won a record 4 Gold Lions at Cannes 2013 for their Times Of India Farmer Suicide Campaign; Cannes Gold for “I’m Mumbai” TV Campaign in 2014; Grand Prix at Spikes Asia in 2015 for Mumbai Mirror; “Agency of the year” at Goafest 2017;  Integrated Grand Prix and “Agency of the year India” at Spikes Asia in 2017; and in 2021 awarded as most “Awarded Agency from India” at D&AD and Adfest.

Paddy himself is one of the most awarded creative professionals in India with over 200 international (includes 2 dozen Lions, multiple golds), and 300+ local awards as well as multiple Grand Prix titles under his belt.

He has served as a jury member and jury president at numerous international award shows across the globe including Cannes Lions, Clio, D&AD, OneShow, New York Festival, London International Awards, Dubai Lynx, Adfest Pattaya, AdStar Busan, ADC, ANDY etc.

These days he passionately promotes running and fitness along with creativity, as he himself has experienced the power of a healthy body for healthy mind/ideas.