MAM
Mindshare names Sam Thomas as head – performance & product
Mumbai: Mindshare India, the flagship agency from GroupM, has announced the appointment of Sam Thomas as the head of performance & product in India.
Rehan Ali as partner – performance (North and East), Atishay Agrawal as senior director – performance (South), and Pratishtha Dehariya as partner – performance (West) are the other key appointments. They will be based out of Gurgaon, Mumbai, and Bangalore, respectively, and will report to Sam.
Sam will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Mindshare South Asia digital head Gopa Menon. He will look after the performance business, productizing services and building enhanced capabilities for clients. With over 16 years of experience in digital marketing, Sam has a hands-on approach to setting practices, building teams, promoting innovation, and growing client businesses. Sam is an internal and external specialist as an expert in data-driven marketing and analytics. He will continue to have a strong focus on performance and measures effectiveness.
Rehan will bring in more efficiencies for an existing set of clients and grow the performance marketing portfolio as well as support teams to bring on board new clients in the northern and eastern markets. Atishay will help grow the existing business efficiently and grow the performance portfolio for Mindshare in the South, while Pratishtha will lead the performance business for Mindshare West.
A crucial aspect for the team will be to work with various departments within GroupM and help fill in gaps wherever necessary. They will also collaborate with teams to understand the existing business and provide performance-driven solutions for existing clients and create performance strategies for new businesses.
Mindshare South Asia CEO Amin Lakhani said, “As we observe massive acceleration of digital adoption by consumers, it is imperative for us to deliver full funnel integrated products for our clients. Strengthening our performance capability further is a step in right direction. The expertise Sam and his team bring to Mindshare will allow us to continue supporting clients with their digital capabilities and performance excellence. I am certain that this team will play a pivotal role in the brand transformation journey for our clients and will drive Mindshare’s ‘Good Growth’ proposition for them.’’
Mindshare South Asia digital head Gopa Menon said, “Performance marketing is becoming increasingly important to marketers and Sam and his team brings in-depth knowledge of how brands can revamp their digital and performance strategies. We look forward to continuing enriching digital experiences for our clients.”
Sam Thomas said, “I’m excited to join an agency like Mindshare, which has been at the forefront of performance marketing to help companies reach their business targets. Performance marketing is the backbone of brands’ transformation as digital adoption takes over. I am looking forward to contributing to Mindshare’s ‘good growth’ journey by bridging the gap between seamless digital activation and implementation for its clients.”
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.
