MAM
Indigo Consulting appoints Prasanna Kulkarni as head of creative
MUMBAI: Indigo Consulting has bolstered its key leadership team with the appointment of Prasanna Kulkarni as head of creative.
Prasanna has 20 years of advertising, brand strategy and digital media experience, and his last stint was with Cheil India as creative head of digital. At Indigo Consulting, he will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Indigo Consulting CEO Rajesh Ghatge.
Speaking about the new key appointment, Rajesh Ghatge says, “We have driven aggressive acquisition of new clients in the last couple of years, winning large digital marketing mandates and complex digital transformation projects in the bargain. We have some of the largest brands across categories engaged with us. To deliver the best-in-class intelligent digital and omni-channel experiences, we have built and groomed an amazing creative community at Indigo Consulting. Prasanna’s mandate is to lead this community from the front across our communication and digital platform design, and build offerings. I look forward to him leveraging his deep expertise in both, brand communication and interaction design, to fuel our momentum further. His endeavour will be to deliver a fantastic creative and innovative product to our clients.”
Prasanna’s advertising career spans over 20 years, where he has worked at ZenithOptimedia Group (a part of Publicis.Media), J Walter Thompson, OgilvyOne and Rediff.com. He has worked on India’s largest brands, some of which are Vodafone, Samsung, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Pidilite, ICICI Bank, Jet Airways, Godrej, Adidas, Star India, Ceat Tyres, Piaggio India, OLX and Mondelez. He is a highly-celebrated advertising professional, with several industry awards under his belt.
Speaking about his new role, Prasanna mentions, “I am extremely excited to be a part of such a talented, multidisciplinary team at Indigo Consulting. It’s an exceptional opportunity to engage with the unique blend of digital transformation engagements coupled with brand narratives. I am eager to kick-start this new journey and create some great, effective work.”
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.
