MAM
IAA launches IAA Young Turks Forum
MUMBAI: The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter has announced its next important initiative – IAA Young Turks Forum – which is focused on young executives who are keen to interact and learn from industry leaders.
This will be a bi-monthly series and for the inaugural one, Akzo Nobel India’s chairman Nihal Kaviratne, has kindly agreed to meet the young professionals to address as well as mentor them. Kaviratne will initially present an analysis of consumption trends in Asia and then interact with the audience on leadership in turbulent times. HBO south Asia is the presenting partner for IAA Young Turks Forum.
Kaviratne was cited in the Queen’s 2004 New Year Honours list in the UK and was awarded as the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to UK business interests and for sustainable development in Indonesia. In January 2004, he moved from being Chairman of Unilever Indonesia to a regional role in the Unilever Asia Business Group based in Singapore as Senior Vice President – Development & Environmental Affairs. In January 2005, he assumed additional responsibility as Chairman of Unilever’s US$2.5 billion Home & Oral Care business in Asia.
Currently, Kaviratne is director of DBS Group & Bank, StarHub, Singapore Airport Terminal Services Limited (SATS), Wildlife Reserves Singapore, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited. He is a member of the Governing Board of Bombay Mothers & Children Welfare Society.
IAA India Chapter president & IAA VP development Asia/Pacific region Srinivasan K Swamy said, “IAA has been thinking of doing something for young executives who are the backbone of industry tomorrow. With the launch of IAA Young Turks Forum, we hope to fill this gap. We are delighted to have someone like Nihal Kaviratne who has rich global experience to be our guest at the inaugural IAA Young Turks Forum series. We are sure young professionals will take full opportunity to learn from his insights on whatever he expounds.”
“HBO has always had a strong connect with youth audiences and we are delighted to be associated with this thought exchange platform for young leaders,” said HBO south Asia’s managing director Monica Tata, presenting partner of the IAA Young Turks Forum.
Mahindra’s special services group’s head marketing and public relations Manish Advani who is also chair of the IAA Young Turks Forum series added, “The IAA Young Turks Forum is a unique effort to bring together international gurus and young professionals face-to-face. We are confident in presenting top notch leaders every two months to this young audience”.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to generate interest in the topic, the IAA (India Chapter) has invited Young Turks to send their thoughts on “Asia, Who’s Consuming” or “Leadership in Turbulent Times” in about 500 words to IAA. The chosen best article will win a Nokia cellphone along with a Certificate from the International Advertising Association.
Brands
Tessolve lands a semiconductor veteran to drive its next big push
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, who started his career at ISRO and has spent 35 years building chips and companies, joins the Bengaluru-based firm as president and chief operating officer
BENGALURU: Tessolve has never been shy about its ambitions. The Bengaluru-based engineering services firm already counts 18 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies among its clients, employs more than 3,500 engineers across 12 countries, and last year pocketed a $150m investment from TPG. Now it has hired the executive it believes can turn those assets into something bigger. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, a 35-year semiconductor veteran who once built satellite payloads for ISRO and has since scaled engineering organisations across three continents, joins as president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
THE MAN AND THE MANDATE
The appointment is, by any measure, a serious hire. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu comes to Tessolve after senior leadership stints at HCL Technologies, Altran and Wipro, where he managed large profit-and-loss portfolios and oversaw cross-regional teams. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,000 new products to market across the high-tech, energy and manufacturing verticals. Before the private sector claimed him, he began his working life as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, contributing to research and development in charge-coupled device technology and satellite payloads, a foundation that shaped everything that followed.
In his new role, he will lead Tessolve’s global growth strategy: expanding its engineering capabilities, deepening customer relationships and accelerating innovation across semiconductor and high-performance computing domains. The brief is broad, but the context is specific. Tessolve operates in the $550 billion global semiconductor market, and its recent moves, the acquisition of Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies and the TPG funding round, have sharpened both its reach and its expectations.
Srini Chinamilli, co-founder and chief executive of Tessolve, is characteristically direct about why Ravi Kumar Chirugudu was the choice:
“As we scale our global semiconductor and system engineering capabilities, Ravi’s appointment marks an important step forward. As global semiconductor demand continues to accelerate across industries, it is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor lifecycle, from design, packaging, validation and systems integration. Ravi’s deep knowledge and leadership in this ecosystem brings the right mix of industry expertise, customer connect and execution capability, which will play a key role in strengthening our position as a trusted global engineering partner and reinforcing our market leadership.”
THE NEW ARRIVAL SPEAKS
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, for his part, frames the move in terms of timing and culture, two factors that veteran executives tend to weigh as heavily as title or compensation:
“I am happy to join Tessolve at a time when the industry is rapidly evolving towards more complex, AI-driven systems. What stands out to me is its strong people-first culture and its commitment to bringing value to its customers. The strength of its global team, combined with its deep expertise in semiconductor innovation and next-generation product engineering, creates a solid foundation to build differentiated, scalable solutions. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive strategic growth and strengthen its role in shaping the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
The reference to AI-driven systems is not incidental. The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a structural reshaping, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. For engineering services firms like Tessolve, which offers end-to-end capabilities from silicon design to packaged parts and invests in high-performance computing, high-speed interfaces, photonics and 5G, the moment is both an opportunity and a test. The company says it is well positioned to capture the next wave of industry growth. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu is now the person who has to prove it.
He came in from outer space, literally, and spent three decades learning how the semiconductor industry works from the inside out. Now Tessolve is betting that accumulated knowledge can help it cross the next frontier. In the $550 billion global chip market, the gap between ambition and execution is measured in engineering hours and leadership quality. Tessolve has just gone shopping for both.
