MAM
GroupM elevates Jai Lala and Sidharth Parashar
MUMBAI: GroupM has elevated two of its senior executives of the Central Trading Group (CTG). The company elevates Sidharth Parashar as head, Pricing & Investments, and Jai Lala as head, Trading & Partnerships.
Both Lala and Parashar will report to CTG south Asia managing partner Prasanth Kumar.
Prior to his promotion, Parashar was the agency buying head for Maxus, for over five years, where he was a valued member of the leadership team, working on media mandates for brands such as Google, Nokia, Vodafone to name a few. In his new role Parashar will be responsible to facilitate and execute GroupM investment mandates across media. His key focus will be on the GroupM trading products that should continue to offer the edge to our clients. All the GroupM agency trading heads and cluster heads will now report in to Praashar.
Prior to Lala’s elevation, he was the agency trading head for Mindshare, where he worked on media mandates for clients such as Pepsi, GlaxoSmithkline, ICICI, Aditya Birla Group and Nike. Going forward Lala will be managing all trading mandates at GroupM. He will also be heading a team of all the heads across verticals: Proprietary media, DTH, Xaxis, Syndication, GME and Special projects and maximize value for our clients. He will also work closely with Parashar and the agency trading heads on delivering the maximum ROI on media investments.
Speaking on the new structure, Kumar said, “As we move into a growth phase largely driven by converging synergies across the group and driving client satisfaction it has become critical that we create more focus, especially in the area of media investment. With the development of new concepts of integrated media, merging traditional and digital media, we are also looking at reforming the way we plan our investments as a central hub. This new structure in our core function will deliver unparalleled client delight and value.”
MAM
Time brings TIME100 Next franchise to India with Reliance
List to spotlight 100 emerging leaders, gala set for December 2026 in Mumbai.
MUMBAI: It’s about time India’s next wave got a global spotlight and now, it’s on the list. New York-headquartered Time is expanding its TIME100 Next franchise to India, partnering with Reliance Industries Limited to launch TIME100 Next India, its first international extension of the rising leaders platform. The announcement was made at the Time100 Gala in New York by Jessica Sibley and Nita Mukesh Ambani, signalling a strategic push to tap into India’s growing influence across sectors.
The India edition will recognise 100 emerging leaders from the country and the global Indian diaspora, spanning business, science, sports, arts and social impact. The list will be curated by Time’s editorial team and published online, continuing the franchise’s focus on identifying individuals shaping the future.
The initiative will culminate in a gala event scheduled for December 2026 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, anchoring the platform within India’s cultural and business ecosystem.
TIME’s broader Time100 franchise has steadily expanded its global footprint since 2021 through events and impact-led initiatives. Executives noted that India’s growing pool of influential voices and innovators made it a natural next step for the platform’s international ambitions.
For Reliance, the partnership aligns with its broader push to support emerging talent and ideas on a global stage. For Time, it marks a timely bet on India not just as a market, but as a talent engine shaping the next chapter of global leadership.
