Brands
Blue Star reshuffles board as Sam Balsara exits, new leadership steps up
MUMBAI: Blue Star is shaking up its boardroom quietly, decisively, and with an eye firmly on the next phase of growth. One of India’s most recognisable corporate brands is refreshing its leadership bench as a marketing legend exits, a seasoned industrialist enters, and the executive engine gets more firepower .
Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World and one of Indian advertising’s most influential figures, will retire as independent director on January 31 after completing two consecutive terms. Having joined the board in June 2017 and been reappointed in 2022, Balsara leaves at 75, closing a chapter defined by sharp brand thinking and a steady hand on consumer strategy. As chairman of the nomination and remuneration committee, his influence extended deep into leadership development and succession planning, shaping Blue Star’s next generation of decision-makers .
Stepping into the independent director role is M S Unnikrishnan, appointed for a five-year term with effect from January 29. With more than four decades of experience, Unnikrishnan currently heads the IITB–Monash Research Academy and previously ran Thermax group as managing director, steering the engineering major across global energy and environment businesses. His boardroom résumé already includes KEC International, Kirloskar Brothers, Greaves Cotton and Livguard Energy Technologies, alongside trusteeships at Akshayapatra and Jehangir Hospital, Pune. A mechanical engineering graduate from VNIT Nagpur with an advanced management programme from Harvard Business School, Unnikrishnan brings operational heft and global exposure to Blue Star’s board .
Continuity, however, remains central. B Thiagarajan has been reappointed managing director for a further term from April 1, 2026, through May 24, 2027—one day short of his 70th birthday. A Blue Star lifer since 1998, Thiagarajan has clocked more than four decades across B2B and B2C businesses, rising from board member in 2013 to joint managing director in 2016 and managing director in 2019. An electrical and electronics engineer from Madurai University with a senior executive programme from London Business School, he continues to play a prominent role in industry bodies including the CII national council, the Indian Green Building Council and the CII Green Cooling Council .
The executive bench is also getting younger muscle. Mohit Sud has been elevated as executive director, unitary cooling products, for a five-year term starting April 1, 2026. Sud joined Blue Star in March 2025 as group president, overseeing room air conditioners and commercial refrigeration with end-to-end responsibility spanning sales, marketing, R&D, manufacturing and supply chain. A mechanical engineer with an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur, Sud spent over two decades at Hindustan Unilever, leading sales and marketing across home care and beauty and wellbeing categories, most recently driving premium retail distribution .
Vir S Advani, chairman and managing director, framed the changes as both an inflection point and a vote of confidence. He credited Balsara with helping sharpen the brand’s relevance among younger consumers and deeper-tier markets, noting that his marketing insights helped Blue Star gain market share year after year. Unnikrishnan, Advani said, adds proven leadership across engineering products and international markets, while Thiagarajan’s extension will accelerate strategic programmes in growth, R&D and manufacturing and ensure a seamless leadership transition. On Sud, Advani was bluntly bullish, saying the company has been grooming him for board-level responsibility and that his consumer-market experience will help lift market share and profitability in unitary cooling products .
At 82 years old, Blue Star is signalling that longevity does not mean inertia. With one era ending and another being carefully engineered, the company is betting that fresh thinking, steady leadership and sharper execution will keep it cool—and competitive—when the heat is on.
Brands
Microsoft faces worst quarter since 2008 financial crisis
Cloud giant battles soaring AI costs and fierce competition from nimble startups.
MUMBAI: When the tech titan starts looking a little wobbly, even the Magnificent Seven can feel the tremors because Microsoft is currently starring in its own sequel, “Clouds and Doubts.” Microsoft is on track for its worst quarterly performance since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to Bloomberg, as investors grow increasingly uneasy about rising capital expenditure and intensifying competition from nimble AI firms. The company has been pouring money into AI infrastructure, yet markets are questioning when these hefty investments will finally deliver stronger revenue growth.
At the same time, investors are shifting away from traditional software stocks amid fears that AI startups such as Anthropic and OpenAI are developing autonomous agents capable of replacing established products, including those from Microsoft. Jonathan Cofsky, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, noted growing concern that customers may bypass Microsoft and deal directly with AI vendors, potentially disrupting its core business and putting pressure on pricing and margins.
Microsoft’s stock has tumbled 25 per cent in the first quarter, putting it on course for its largest drop since a 27 per cent fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. It has also emerged as the weakest performer among the so-called Magnificent Seven technology stocks, while a broader index tracking the group has fallen 14 per cent over the same period. The shares slipped a further 1.7 per cent after markets opened on Friday, marking a potential fourth consecutive session of declines.
Cofsky pointed out that Microsoft has become more capital intensive and that improved investor confidence will hinge on assurances that software growth will not slow materially. Despite the sell-off, the stock is now trading at less than 20 times projected earnings over the next 12 months, its lowest valuation level since June 2016. Its valuation remains slightly above that of the S&P 500 Index, although it has recently traded at a discount to the broader benchmark for the first time since 2015.
Bloomberg data shows Microsoft’s capital expenditure, including leases, is expected to surge to $146 billion in fiscal 2026, up around 66 per cent from $88 billion in fiscal 2025. Spending is projected to climb further to $170 billion in fiscal 2027 and $191 billion in fiscal 2028, based on average estimates. Investors are growing cautious about such levels of spending without clearer signs of stronger growth.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud division has reported a slight slowdown in growth compared with the previous quarter, while its Copilot AI product has seen limited user traction, prompting internal changes aimed at improving performance. Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Melius Research, warned in a March note that Microsoft’s upside in Azure could be constrained as the company works to address challenges related to its AI models and Copilot offering, adding that these issues are unlikely to be resolved in the short term.
Of the 67 analysts covering Microsoft, 63 maintain buy ratings, three hold ratings and one a sell rating. The average 12-month price target of $592 implies a potential upside of more than 64 per cent, the highest on record based on data going back to 2009. The stock is also trading below its 200-day moving average by the widest margin since 2009.
Reitzes suggested the dominance of buy ratings may indicate complacency among analysts, while highlighting risks in Microsoft’s productivity and business processes segment as well as its More Personal Computing division. In contrast, Tal Liani of Bank of America reinstated coverage with a buy rating, citing durable multi-year growth prospects across cloud and AI. Jake Seltz, portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, maintained that Microsoft retains strong long-term value and that its AI strategy is likely to be validated over time, viewing near-term concerns as a potential opportunity for longer-term investors.
The report highlights a growing divergence in market sentiment, with optimism around long-term AI potential weighed against immediate execution risks and investor uncertainty. In the world of big tech, even the mightiest clouds can have silver linings but right now, Microsoft’s investors are scanning the horizon for clearer skies.
