MAM
GroupM announces new leadership structure for South Asia team and Mindshare
MUMBAI: GroupM South Asia announced a restructuring in its leadership, to continue delivering the advantages of global operations and learnings with local expertise and sharp market insights.
Effective immediately, Prasanth Kumar is named chief operating officer, South Asia, and Tushar Vyas is named president growth and transformation, South Asia, the brand new roles in the organisation.
In addition, Parthasarathy Mandayam is named Mindshare’s CEO for South Asia and Amin Lakhani is named Mindshare’s chief operating officer in South Asia.
Prasanth Kumar, who was handling the post of Mindshare CEO till now, will now be responsible for operational excellence of GroupM and will lead the teams across OpCos, trading and specialised units.
Tushar Vyas, who was responsible for the launch of digital media agency business unit (interaction) for GroupM India, in his new role will drive digital transformation and focus on building GroupM capability focusing on digital, data, analytics and content.
Speaking on the new appointments, GroupM South Asia CEO Sam Singh said, “Prasanth and Tushar are passionate leaders with high integrity and proven ability to envision and deliver successful outcomes in a challenging environment. As we become a more data-centric organisation, there is a need to drive transformation and build future capabilities with a focus on digital, data, analytics, and content. We must work across GroupM to drive organisational transformation and operational excellence. The new team structure is another step in this direction.”
He added, “I am also sad to announce that Lakshmi Narasimhan our chief growth officer for GroupM South Asia has decided to step down from his current role effective 31 January 2019, to pursue personal interests. I thank him for his contributions over the years and wish him all the best. We will miss him as we continue to build upon his hard work and passion. Lakshmi was instrumental in building our strong trading community with solid practices”.
Parthasarathy Mandayam will take over the role of chief executive officer (CEO) of Mindshare, South Asia from Prasanth, effective 1 February 2019. He has spent 10+ years with Mindshare in various leadership roles – data, insights, analytics, strategy, client leadership and business unit leadership. He will report into Sam Singh, CEO GroupM, South Asia, Prasanth Kumar – COO – GroupM South Asia and Amrita Randhawa, CEO Mindshare Asia Pacific.
Going forward, Amin Lakhani will take on the role of chief operating officer (COO) for Mindshare South Asia. Amin has over 20 years’ experience in various roles in Mindshare and GroupM and is currently leading client leadership at Mindshare.
Talking on the latest developments, the new GroupM COO Prasanth Kumar said, “Our industry is an ever-mutating one, so we have to also continue to evolve and adapt. With Maps and Amin now at the helm of Mindshare, we have leaders with a proven track record of consistently achieving clients’ business goals. They will continue cultivating client relationships at the highest level and delivering great results.”
Brands
Boeing appoints Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering function
Seasoned finance leader to steer budgets and strategy across global centres
BENGALURU: Boeing’s finance cockpit has a new pilot, and he is no stranger to turbulence or transformation. Boeing has appointed Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering, placing him at the centre of financial strategy for its worldwide engineering and technology operations.
Based in Bengaluru, Barun steps into a role that is as expansive as it is critical. He will serve as the primary finance lead for Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centers globally, working closely with executive leadership to shape financial decisions, manage complex budgets, and design scalable finance processes that support the company’s growing engineering footprint.
In a note announcing his move Barun said, “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Boeing Global Engineering. This opportunity is incredibly meaningful to me not just from a professional standpoint, but also for what Boeing represents globally.” He added that he looks forward to contributing to an organisation that continues to shape the future of aerospace and innovation.
Barun’s mandate spans strategic financial leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement. From directing large-scale budgets and schedules to influencing long-term organisational goals, the role blends financial discipline with business foresight. He will also lead cross-functional teams and partner with finance colleagues worldwide to support engineering programmes across geographies, including India.
The appointment caps a long stint at Juniper Networks, where Barun spent over a decade, most recently as finance senior manager. There, he led FP&A for global product business units and G&A functions, driving budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning. He also played a key role in enterprise-wide transformation, including spearheading an Oracle to SAP ERP migration and building advanced analytics capabilities using tools such as Tableau and SAP Analytics Cloud.
His earlier career includes finance leadership roles at Sony India Software Centre, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Mphasis, where he focused on financial planning, governance frameworks, and operational efficiency across global delivery centres.
A chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Barun brings nearly two decades of experience across financial planning, digital transformation, and analytics-led decision making.
His appointment comes at a time when global engineering operations are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, requiring sharper financial oversight and agile planning. With Barun at the helm of FP&A for engineering, Boeing appears to be tightening its financial playbook as it looks to scale innovation with discipline.
