MAM
QuEST onboards Yumi Clevenger-Lee as global CMO
Mumbai: Product engineering and lifecycle services company QuEST Global on Thursday announced the appointment of Yumi Clevenger-Lee as global chief marketing officer (CMO). She will be based out of Connecticut, USA, and will report directly to QuEST Global, chairman & CEO, Ajit Prabhu.
Yumi will be responsible for marketing strategy, brand positioning, advertising, and corporate communications to build the QuEST brand across geographic regions, industry verticals, and services, said the company in a statement.
A marketing veteran, Yumi joins QuEST Global with 17 years of experience in consumer-packaged goods. Her vast marketing experience includes new product innovation, reinventing brands through purpose, developing engaging campaigns and creating new communication and business models. With her marketing expertise, she has built many well-known brands around the world including S Pellegrino, Perrier, Cheerios, and Green Giant.
Extending a warm welcome to Yumi on joining QuEST, Ajit Prabhu said, “She is known as a passionate brand builder who has been instrumental in developing strategies that have helped organisations accelerate growth. I believe under her able leadership and in-depth understanding of marketing; we will be able to further strengthen the QuEST brand and drive growth across our engineering services portfolio.”
Yumi has robust global experience spanning her career. Before joining QuEST, she was the executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Nestle Waters North America, where she was responsible for a $4.5 billion portfolio of 16 brands. Previously, she served as the director of marketing for the Latin America region of Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW), head of innovation globally based in Switzerland for CPW, and led the Cheerios brand for General Mills Canada.
Commenting on her appointment, Yumi said, “QuEST has an excellent track record of helping its clients reinvent their businesses through innovation. With a strong vision to build solutions that advance the way we live, work, travel, and engage with each other, I look forward to helping QuEST strengthen its global leadership to be both a force for growth and a force for good.”
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.
