MAM
Singapore Tourism Board appoints Lim Kean Bon as area director, India, South Asia, and Africa
Mumbai: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced the appointment of Lim Kean Bon as area director, India, South Asia, and Africa on 1 September. He will succeed Raymond Lim as the India market lead based in New Delhi, leading STB’s promotion, and travel trade engagement activities in Northern and Eastern India to sustain and grow affinity for Singapore from leisure travelers. In addition, Kean Bon will be responsible for business development efforts to secure visitorship across India to Singapore in the cruise and meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) segments. He will also lead his team in engaging consumers in other regional markets like Bangladesh and South Africa.
Speaking on this appointment for Singapore Tourism Board (STB) regional director, India, Middle East, South Asia & Africa (IMESA) GB Srithar, said, “We extend a hearty welcome to Kean Bon as he joins our dynamic team. I believe Kean Bon’s leadership in driving experience development for a leisure precinct and his past tenure in the Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau (SECB) places him in good stead to take on this role in STB New Delhi, particularly in this pivotal moment of anchoring Singapore as the premier lifestyle and business destination for Indian travellers.”
Kean Bon started his career in the Singapore public service as an urban planner in Singapore’s city planning authority. He joined the STB infrastructure planning and management division in 2015 to drive the planning of MICE infrastructure, and subsequently moved on to the SECB team in 2017, where he managed destination bids and account servicing activities for large-scale business meetings and conventions organised by global associations. Prior to taking on the STB New Delhi leadership role, Kean Bon led STB’s Lifestyle Precinct Development team from 2020 to 2023, where he set direction for various projects to sustain the appeal of Orchard Road, Singapore’s leading lifestyle precinct. “I am excited to join the STB IMESA team and look forward to building on the good work and strong partnerships forged by my predecessor Raymond”, Kean Bon said. “Together with my team in New Delhi, we will continue our efforts to promote Singapore and inspire the Indian audience with the sheer breadth of vibrant experiences the city has to offer for leisure and business travellers.”
Brands
OpenAI hires Nitin Bawankule as head of enterprise sales, India
Former AWS, Google and Disney+ Hotstar leader to drive AI adoption at scale
MUMBAI: OpenAI has appointed Nitin Bawankule as head of enterprise sales for India, strengthening its leadership bench as it deepens its push into one of the world’s fastest-growing AI markets.
Bawankule, who will join in mid-May, brings more than two decades of experience across cloud, media, and digital ecosystems. Most recently, he served at Amazon Web Services, where he led multiple high-growth verticals and helped accelerate enterprise adoption of cloud and AI solutions in India.
Announcing the move, OpenAI head of enterprise sales, India Nitin Bawankule said he is looking forward to helping organisations transition from “isolated AI pilots to company-wide transformation” and embedding AI into everyday workflows to unlock productivity and better decision-making.
Before AWS, Bawankule held senior leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company, where he led ad sales for Disney+ Hotstar and television networks, driving revenue growth across major sporting and entertainment properties. He also spent over eight years at Google, including a stint as country director for Google Cloud in India.
His appointment comes at a time when Indian enterprises are rapidly scaling AI adoption, moving beyond experimentation to integrating AI into core business functions. OpenAI’s decision to bring in a seasoned enterprise leader signals its intent to capture this opportunity and build deeper partnerships across industries.
With a strong track record in navigating major technology shifts, Bawankule is expected to play a key role in translating AI’s promise into practical, business-ready solutions for Indian companies.
As the race to operationalise AI gathers pace, OpenAI’s latest hire suggests it is gearing up not just to participate, but to lead from the front in India’s enterprise AI story.
