In this edition: From financial leadership to healthcare AI, 7 executives step into roles shaping Asia’s next business priorities.
Leadership moves can reveal where businesses and institutions are preparing for what comes next. This edition spans Qatar, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Nepal, with appointments across finance, healthcare AI, investment, talent, and professional services.
From new CEOs taking the helm to specialists stepping into broader mandates, these appointments bring together a diverse group of leaders navigating some of the region’s most consequential business priorities.
Highlights
Afiza Abdullah
Chief Executive Officer, Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM)
Afiza Abdullah has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM), effective August 28, 2026, following more than a decade with the organization.
She brings over 20 years of banking and insurance experience across financial regulation, policy development, crisis management, and resolution. Since joining PIDM in 2011, Abdullah has helped strengthen its consumer protection and resolution capabilities, including work on Malaysia’s Takaful and Insurance Benefits Protection System and PIDM’s resolution framework.
NIA Insight: Financial-system resilience relies on institutions being prepared before periods of stress emerge. Elevating a leader with deep experience in regulation and resolution signals the continued importance of institutional preparedness and consumer protection within Malaysia’s financial landscape.
Mihir Bhanushali
Executive Vice President – Global Health, Qure.ai
Mihir Bhanushali has joined healthcare AI company Qure.ai as Executive Vice President – Global Health, leading the business across Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America.
His mandate includes working with governments, funders, partners, and health systems to extend the reach of Qure.ai’s technology. The focus includes expanding disease screening, supporting earlier diagnosis, and putting clinical intelligence into the hands of frontline healthcare workers.
NIA Insight: The next challenge for healthcare AI is not simply developing better technology, but deploying it effectively at population scale. Qure.ai’s appointment highlights how partnerships with public health systems are becoming critical to turning AI capabilities into wider healthcare access.
Mohammad Enamul Huque
Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bangladesh
Standard Chartered Bangladesh has appointed Mohammad Enamul Huque as Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, following a 25-year career with the bank across Bangladesh and other markets.
Huque’s experience spans corporate and institutional banking, risk management, commodity trading, agribusiness, and financial institutions. Most recently, he served as country Chief Risk Officer and senior credit officer. As CEO, his mandate includes strengthening the bank’s role in connecting clients with international markets while deepening relationships with clients, regulators, and other stakeholders.
NIA Insight: Moving a senior risk leader into the CEO seat highlights the balance banks must strike between pursuing opportunity and managing complexity. In Bangladesh, that combination matters as international connectivity becomes increasingly important to businesses operating across borders.
Yanki Ukyab
Chief Executive Officer, Investment Board Nepal
Economist Yanki Ukyab has been selected to lead the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN), the Government of Nepal’s apex institution for facilitating large-scale investment, foreign direct investment and major infrastructure projects, following a competitive appointment process. She is the first woman to lead the IBN.
Educated at Oxford, Ukyab brings international development experience to the role, including serving as a Senior Policy Advisor with the United Nations Development Programme for the Asia-Pacific region. Her UN experience has also included work in Fiji and Cambodia.
NIA Insight: Competition for investment increasingly puts the capabilities of national investment agencies in focus. Ukyab’s regional development background brings a policy perspective to a role positioned between government priorities and the international investment community.
Jon Rowell
Managing Director and APAC Head, Forensic Technology, Investigations & Discovery, BRG
BRG has appointed Jon Rowell as Managing Director and Asia-Pacific Head of its Forensic Technology, Investigations & Discovery practice, based in Singapore.
Rowell is an accounting, damages, and valuation specialist with experience advising C-suite executives, boards, regulators, and law firms on complex disputes and investigations across APAC. Alongside leading the practice, he will take on a wider coordination role across BRG’s regional businesses.
NIA Insight: Cross-border disputes and investigations increasingly require expertise that cuts across finance, technology, regulation, and multiple jurisdictions. BRG’s appointment reflects the value of regional leaders who can connect those disciplines rather than approach complex cases in isolation.
Kshama Patel, SHRM-SCP, C-OKRP
Deputy General Manager – Human Resources, Intas Pharmaceuticals
Kshama Patel has joined Intas Pharmaceuticals as Deputy General Manager – Human Resources, bringing more than 17 years of experience across strategic and operational HR leadership.
Her background spans talent management, employee engagement, performance management, learning and development, and organizational transformation. Before joining Intas, Ms. Patel held senior HR positions at Motadata (India) and Savvy Consulting (USA), co-founded HR consultancy Vieg Services, and built earlier experience with companies including Infostretch, Advantmed, and Etech Global Services.
NIA Insight: HR leadership is broadening beyond traditional people operations as companies rethink skills, performance, and organizational readiness. Ms. Patel’s varied background reflects growing demand for people leaders who can connect workforce priorities with wider business change.
Mohammed Al-Terhi
Chief Executive Officer, Sharq Insurance
Mohammed Al-Terhi has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Sharq Insurance in Qatar, taking the helm of the insurer as it enters its next phase of leadership.
In announcing his appointment, Al-Terhi highlighted working alongside Sharq’s team to strengthen the organization, deepen partnerships, and deliver value to clients, brokers, and stakeholders.
NIA Insight: The emphasis on partnerships and stakeholder relationships points to the increasingly interconnected nature of insurance. For Sharq, the new leadership chapter puts relationship-building alongside organizational strength as a core priority.
Final Thoughts: Asia’s Leadership Agenda Is Becoming More Specialized
Taken together, these appointments point to a clear shift: organizations are putting deeper expertise behind increasingly complex priorities.
Financial institutions are strengthening leadership around resilience and risk, healthcare AI is moving toward wider deployment, and investment and advisory organizations are building capabilities for more connected, cross-border markets.
Talent is part of that equation too. From workforce transformation in India to investment leadership in Nepal and financial stewardship in Malaysia and Bangladesh, this edition shows organizations preparing for growth by strengthening the people and capabilities needed to navigate it.
Highlights
Read the Chinese article here.
