MAM
Tilt Brand Solutions appoints Michelle Suradkar as COO
Mumbai: Brand and communications consultancy Tilt Brand Solutions has announced the appointment of Michelle Suradkar as chief operating officer, effective 15 November. In her new role, she will report to founder and CMD Joseph George, said the agency in a statement.
”We have been fortunate to have had a terrific run the first three years of our existence, and this has given us the confidence to shift gears as we ready up to manage scale and the accompanying complexities,” stated George. “Michelle is someone whom I have worked with very closely for almost a decade when at Lintas; and her competencies, interests, work ethic and energy is just what we all at Tilt need as we embark on the next phase of our journey at Tilt.”
An MBA from Bajaj, Suradkar started out with The Coca-Cola Company before joining Lintas, where she was, for almost 20 years. She was previously associated with MullenLowe Lintas Group up until 2020 as group chief HR officer. She was also part of the group’s managing committee.
An active advocate for gender equity in the workplace, Suradkar was a co-founder of IPG’s Women’s Leadership Network in India, running initiatives for greater gender balance and enhancing gender sensitivity across all levels in the organisation. She co-founded and ran several agency-wide initiatives to further improve the group’s governance and build future-facing capabilities.
She also co-founded the crisis response and management team which worked towards preparing the organisation’s response to a wide variety of man-made and natural crises situations. She created and ran the Lowe Lintas apprenticeship program, an industry first, reaching out to the untapped potential of students across India beyond metro cities.
Suradkar has been awarded the ‘Most Influential HR Leader’ award by the World HRD Congress and has also been counted among the ‘100 Most Influential Global HR Professionals’ by CHRO Asia. She is also a certified extended DISC administrator and a certified POSH trainer.
“I have watched with admiration how Tilt has gone about building itself these past three years, and I am not surprised with what they believe they can achieve from here on,” said Suradkar. “Scaling up while continuing to deliver to clients the brave and effective work they have come to expect from Tilt is a task that is as exhilarating as it is challenging. I am looking forward to us building a world-class, made-in-India model which becomes the benchmark for our industry.”
MAM
Toyota appoints Kenta Kon as President & CEO
New leader to steer EV push and global innovation amid industry shift.
MUMBAI: Toyota just handed the keys to a new driver because when the road to electric mobility gets twisty, you need someone who knows how to accelerate without skidding. Toyota Motor Corporation has named Kenta Kon as its new president and chief executive officer, a key leadership transition as the Japanese giant doubles down on its transformation in the fast-evolving global automotive landscape.
Kon brings deep expertise in automotive innovation, business strategy, and operational leadership to the top job. His appointment signals Toyota’s intent to sharpen focus on accelerating electric mobility, strengthening worldwide operations, and pushing customer-centric breakthroughs in next-generation technologies.
The company is betting on Kon to guide it through the industry’s pivotal shift toward sustainability, digital integration, and smarter mobility solutions. Key priorities under his watch include ramping up electric and hybrid lineups, expanding global market reach, driving cutting-edge automotive R&D, tightening supply-chain efficiency, and scaling connected and intelligent vehicle ecosystems.
This move comes at a time when legacy automakers face intense pressure to balance heritage strengths with aggressive electrification timelines and software-defined vehicle demands. Toyota aims to reinforce its position as a leader in sustainable, reliable, and future-ready mobility while navigating competitive challenges from both traditional rivals and new-age EV players.
For a brand that’s long defined durability and innovation, Kon’s elevation isn’t just a title change, it’s Toyota flooring it toward the next lap, ready to turn today’s tech talk into tomorrow’s showroom reality.
