MAM
Priti Murthy joins GroupM as president, GroupM Services India
Mumbai: GroupM India on Thursday announced the appointment of Priti Murthy as president, GroupM Services India. In her new role, Murthy would also be part of the GroupM India executive committee.
Murthy will work closely with GroupM’s regional leadership team in ensuring seamless adoption of all the initiatives. She will report to GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar and GroupM Asia Pacific COO Jon Thurlow. GroupM Services India leadership team would report to Murthy, stated the agency.
As president of GroupM Services, she will be leading the centre of delivery excellence that comprises biddable, non-biddable, analytics, and reporting. Along with her strong leadership team, Murthy would work closely with agencies to understand their needs, incorporating best-in-class delivery metrics with ‘improvise and improve’ as the approach to continued excellence, said the statement.
“It is a homecoming for Priti and strengthening of GroupM India leadership team with yet another remarkable industry leader. Priti’s product mindset powered by a unique blend of experience in setting and executing an organisation-wide vision will enrich the GroupM teams alike,” said Prasanth Kumar. “As one of the most regarded women leaders in the industry, Priti also believes in GroupM’s future centric business approach and has always focused on building purpose-driven culture as a key leadership responsibility.”
As an industry veteran, Murthy has spent a large part of her over a 22-year long career with GroupM. She has been an immensely effective leader contributing to the organisation in all her previous roles held within Wavemaker (née Maxus Global) during her 13-year stint. Her last held role with GroupM was as the chief strategy officer at Maxus Global. She has been heading OMD India as the chief executive officer for the last four years.
“It is one of the best eras in the media industry, revival and rejuvenation being the focus. I am delighted to join GroupM, to walk the path to the future transformation of GroupM offerings in the marketplace and magnify the operational excellence that it is known for,” stated Murthy. “With GroupM’s focus on creating the best in class and house of excellence, my role will be to bring in the right mix of talent, process, and tech to ensure quality assurance and continuous improvement for biddable and non-biddable media for our partners and clients. I am looking forward to working with Prasanth and the entire ExCo in driving this focus.”
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
