MAM
Madison Media ropes in Vishal, Ambica and Akanksha for key roles
Trio joins to drive digital and integrated growth in North & East
DELHI: Madison Media is giving its North and East operations a fresh jolt of energy, bringing in three senior professionals to strengthen its digital and integrated media leadership.
Vishal Kumar has joined the agency as vice president, digital business for the North and East. He will steer the region’s digital growth plans, working closely with chief digital officer Vivek Das and COO Mimi Deb.
This is a homecoming for Vishal, who returns to Madison with more than 18 years of experience across marketing, media and digital transformation. An alumnus of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, he spent nearly eight and a half years at GroupM, most recently leading the digital practice for Wavemaker North. His work earned recognition at industry platforms such as the Emvies and Goafest.
Most recently, he founded LeapX.ai, a Nasscom awarded start up that builds AI agents for paid digital advertising, sharpening his expertise at the crossroads of data, technology and performance marketing.
Madison has also added two more senior hires to the North and East leadership team. Ambica Chaudhary joins as deputy general manager, integrated media, while Akanksha Panwar comes on board as deputy general manager, digital business.
Ambica brings more than 15 years of experience across global agency networks including Starcom, Wavemaker and most recently PHD. She has handled integrated media planning for brands across categories such as CPG, smartphones, luxury fashion, mobility and life sciences, including managing Unilever’s media mandate in North America. At Madison, she will focus on building client centric, integrated media solutions for the region.
Akanksha also comes with over 15 years of experience, spanning software engineering, IT and digital advertising. An MBA from the University of Nottingham, she spent the last six years with WPP Media and previously held digital leadership roles at Dentsu. She has delivered full funnel strategies across sectors such as CPG, electronics, fashion and health insurance, and her work has been recognised at the Emvies, Indian Digital Marketing Awards and Campaign India Digital Crest Awards.
Speaking on his return, Vishal said it was an exciting time to be back as the company moves ahead with its Madison 3.0 vision. He added that his recent experience building LeapX.ai at the intersection of AI, data and performance marketing would help scale digital growth and strengthen tech and data capabilities in the region.
Mimi Deb said the new appointments would add fresh depth to the leadership team. She noted that Vishal’s expertise in data and technology, along with Akanksha’s digital experience and Ambica’s global exposure, would help drive the next phase of growth across the North and East markets.
Vivek Das added that the hires were strategic bets on digital first growth. He said Vishal’s mix of platform scale, AI entrepreneurship and agency experience would help translate Madison’s AI powered tools into sharper strategies and stronger brand commerce integration, while Ambica and Akanksha would reinforce integrated planning and full funnel execution.
With the new trio in place, Madison appears set to press the accelerator on its digital ambitions in the North and East.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
