MAM
Havas Group India elevates Manas Lahiri as MD
New Delhi: Havas Group India has announced a restructuring of its senior leadership team at Havas Worldwide (Creative) India to drive business growth, consolidate client management. Effective immediately, the agency has elevated president North Manas Lahiri to the role of managing director, and Ravinder Siwach, currently the national creative director to the role of executive director and national creative director of Havas Worldwide (Creative) India.
With over 19 years in advertising and marketing, Lahiri carries experience across sectors, including FMCG, IT, Telecom, and Auto. And Siwach has nearly two decades of experience in many leading agencies. Both have been determined and helped in the overhaul of Havas in the last few years and have been exemplary for the group, said the agency on Monday.
Lahiri will continue to report to Group CEO Rana Barua and will lead both the offices (Gurgaon and Mumbai) of Havas Worldwide India. He will work closely with the leadership team of the other Havas group companies to drive growth, digital innovations and help in the overall integration across businesses and functions, said the agency. While Siwach will continue to report to Havas Group India’s chief creative officer and chairman Bobby Pawar.
“We have witnessed an exponential growth in a short span of two years and have added a phenomenal set of new clients and talents across both our offices. It was time to recognise a strong leadership to drive the client consolidation and take charge of the day-to-day operations of Havas Creative,” Havas Group India – group CEO Rana Barua said. “Manas is a seasoned leader and has driven both organic and inorganic growth for the network, and Ravinder has done an incredible job in scaling up Havas India’s creative prowess under Bobby. Together they have been amazing partners, demonstrated solid team spirit, skill, commitment, and resilience. I am confident that they will scale up Havas Creative, India to greater heights.”
Havas Group India chief creative officer and chairman Bobby Pawar said, “Ravinder and Manas are a rare pair of leaders who are equally passionate about creating great work and growing the agency. The way they collaborate sets the right tone for the rest of the team.”
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
