MAM
WPP’s tenthavenue appoints Sudipto Roy as CEO, Emerging Markets
MUMBAI: WPP’s global communications company, tenthavenue, has appointed Sudipto Roy as CEO of Emerging Markets, covering Asia, Africa, Middle East and Turkey.
Roy will lead tenthavenue across high growth established markets, including China, South East Asia, Hong Kong, South Africa, and drive tenthavenue’s expansion into new markets, including Turkey, Middle East and Japan.
Based out of Singapore, Roy will begin his new tenure in mid-April. Roy spent a significant part of his career in various leadership roles within Mindshare across India, APAC and Africa. These include chief client officer, chair of the Product, Service and Partnerships council, and as client lead for Unilever across APAC, Africa and Turkey, where he played a key role in global leadership of the account.
In the last two years, he spearheaded the partnership drive at Mindshare across diverse domains such as big data, mobility, emerging consumer marketing, content and word of mouth marketing, marketing data and visualisation technologies, as well as orchestrating the creation of new products and revenue streams.
Tenthavenue founder and CEO Rupert Day said, “This appointment comes at a time when we are refocusing our vision for the future. We have had a fantastic start over the last four years, and we want to remain nimble, agile and focused for the next five. By recruiting Roy, we are continuing the energy and direction tenthavenue requires to keep growing, and to keep building winning propositions. Roy is a pivotal part of our APAC management team, and has the right experience to help us realise our strategic ambition to become the best ‘connected experiences’ company in the world. His deep knowledge of the emerging markets, of the technology landscape and his ability to connect the dots to drive new age partnerships is the perfect combination for a company like ours.”
Roy added, “tenthavenue is poised to create a highly differentiated marketing services model for the future. The company has an inherent strength in out-of-home experiences, on-the-go experiences and mobility. That’s the perfect combination for a new age services model as consumers spend less time in front of the TV and desktop and become mobile. The ambition is to forge the units under one strategic umbrella and together become the best ‘connected experiences’ company in the world, driven by deep consumer data and personalisation of content. This vision, combined with the deep entrepreneurial energy in the company, is what has attracted me to join tenthavenue.”
Launched in 2011, tenthavenue now operates across over 55 offices in 25 countries. Based on the four key pillars of data, content, technology and media, tenthavenue builds products and services that enable advertisers to create connected brand experiences. As parent to WPP’s ‘Connected Consumer’ agencies, the tenthavenue agency family consists of market leaders and rising stars in their respective fields, including Kinetic, Aviator, Joule, Spafax, Candyspace, Forward and TMARC.
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.
