MAM
Percept Media hires Raman as chief planning officer
MUMBAI: Percept Media, the media planning, buying and evaluation arm of Percept Ltd, has appointed Srikanth Raman as chief planning officer (CPO).
Raman joins from Starcom MediaVest, where he was general manager handling research and strategy for their clients. He spent six years in the company.
In his new role, Raman will be responsible for creating differentiated strategic based media solutions for the clients. These solutions will be sourced from research and consumer insights undertaken by him and his team, the company said.
Over and above developing media solutions for the company, he will also be leading Percept Media‘s strategic alliance with Pointlogic which was announced recently. He will be responsible for overseeing the integrated intelligence services offered under this association for marketers in India.
Raman comes with over 20 years of experience in the media industry in developing communication and media strategies for brands. He started his career in strategic planning in Enterprise and Nexus Equity. Later he joined Mudra Communications and spent close to seven years.
Raman has been a part of the leadership team in all his past organisations, overseeing macro level of communications for clients like Proctor & Gamble, Jet Airways, Asian Paints, Raymonds, Singapore Tourism, LIC, Indian Oil and Western Union.
Percept Allied Media CEO Shripad Kulkarni said, “Srikanth‘s varied background across critical branding portfolios will add tremendous value to Percept Media which is a young company growing at a break neck speed. He is the best person to take forward our exclusive tie-up with Pointlogic.”
Raman added, “Percept Media has successfully created a robust business model in a very short span of time and are the market leaders today in the media spectrum. I am extremely delighted to join them at their current diversification curve and do look forward to apply my learnings in building various successful verticals within the company.”
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.
