MAM
Simran Kodesia takes charge of communications at Peak XV Partners
MUMBAI: Peak XV Partners, the venture capital firm spun out of Sequoia Capital’s India and Southeast Asia operations, has appointed Simran Kodesia as head of communications. Based in India, she will be responsible for shaping and protecting the firm’s reputation across India, Southeast Asia and the US
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Kodesia brings 17 years of international communications experience across consumer technology, hospitality and media. She joins Peak XV from DoorDash in San Francisco, where she spent nearly four years as director of international communications, steering the food-delivery giant’s consumer and technology narrative, managing global media relations and handling crisis strategy.
Prior to that, she played a central role in Airbnb’s India and Southeast Asia expansion, helping to embed the brand in new markets and reframe travel culture through campaigns focused on community and conscious tourism. She has also held senior positions at The Claridges Hotels & Resorts, ixigo, and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, where she worked with marquee clients including Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Sony Entertainment Television on pre-opening launches, brand positioning and new-channel roll-outs.
Colleagues describe her as a values-driven leader with a flair for storytelling that scales. Over the years she has built and led award-winning campaigns in collaboration with global influencers, founders and senior executives. Her expertise spans influencer marketing, strategic and corporate communications, crisis management and public affairs.
Educated at the International School of Communication in London, with further training at the University of Zurich, Kodesia says she is motivated by building platforms that allow founders and brands to “tell authentic stories at scale.”
For Peak XV, which manages over $9bn in assets and backs companies such as Zomato, Freshworks and GoTo, her appointment signals a renewed focus on narrative discipline as competition intensifies among venture firms in Asia and scrutiny of tech investors grows sharper in Washington and beyond.
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.
