MAM
L&K Saatchi & Saatchi names new NCDs
MUMBAI: L&K Saatchi & Saatchi has announced the departure of its CCO Delna Sethna and the roll out of a new creative organisational structure which will be led by Kartik Smetacek and Rohit Malkani, both of whom will now be sharing the national creative director responsibility. It was less than a year back that the agency had announced the elevation of Delna Sethna as a CCO.
Smetacek and Malkani have been elevated from the post of ECD and national ECD, respectively. While the former will be responsible for the creative teams in Mumbai, the latter will be responsible for the creative teams in Delhi and Kolkata with some key projects in Mumbai.
With over 18 years of experience, Smetacek has worked across a host of agencies including Publicis Ambience, ideas@work, Draft FCB. For the last four years he's been at L&K Saatchi & Saatchi.
Malkani started his advertising career in the account planning department at Rediffusion DY&R, Delhi. After a brief stint he moved to the creative side. With over 15 years’ experience in the industry he’s worked with JWT, Planetasia.com, Publicis Ambience, Bates, Grey Worldwide, Publicis Singapore and Minority on a diverse range of brands.
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.
