MAM
John Thankamony is Mindshare’s new head – programmatic
MUMBAI: Mindshare, one of India’s largest full service media agency, a part of GroupM, has announced the appointment of John Thankamony as head – programmatic.
John will focus on driving programmatic adoption and the embracing of programmatic tools by Mindshare clients. This will include the development of FAST (Future Adaptive Specialist Teams), Mindshare’s solution for clients to harness the power of data. John will be setting guidelines to work with partners while ensuring that Mindshare’s clients have access to relevant and in-target audiences across quality and viewable inventory that is fraud free. He will also be responsible for harnessing data and technology products to drive performance and business results for clients.
John will operate out of the Mumbai office and be regularly involved with the Bangalore and Gurgaon office. He will report to Vinod Thadani, Chief Digital Officer, South Asia, Mindshare.
Mindshare, South Asia, chief digital officer, said, “John will be focusing on leading our existing programmatic offering and developing the programmatic adoption across our client portfolio. We are sure his ability to interpret strategy into the real time solution will bring in larger value for our clients.”
Thankamony said, “The emphasis given by Mindshare to data and audiences is refreshing. India is at a defining moment in its internet journey with a lot of new digital entities cropping up in the market.”
Thankamony brings to Mindshare a rich experience of almost a decade, including that of helping launch and run programmatic operations from Singapore for the SEA region. He has worked with companies like Amnet Asia, Google Inc, and CRISIL Ltd. He has product expertise in various programmatic platforms having run operations and analytics teams with expertise across multiple global and regional partners.
MAM
Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
