APAC CMO Suresh Balaji exits HSBC after 17 years

Suresh Balaji, HSBC's chief marketing officer, APAC is stepping down from his position after 17 years at the bank.  

A seasoned marketing transformation leader, Balaji joined HSBC, Mumbai as the Vice President of Strategy and Innovation in 2005, and quickly cut through the ranks to helm various leadership roles in strategy, sales, and media innovation across four locations to gain a region-wide marketing remit in the role of APAC, CMO in September, 2020. 

According to his LinkedIn post, Balaji announced his role at HSBC has commenced countdown. “Thank you, HSBC, colleagues, mentors, business partners and friends for all the love. HSBC will always have a special place in my heart,” he writes.

Leading the bank across 18 markets, Balaji is credited with taking steps to futureproof the marketing team and better leverage its martech stack. Prior to this role—which took him from Mumbai to Dubai to London en route to Hong Kong—Balaji held various roles with GlaxoSmithKline, United Breweries, Contract India and Young & Rubicam in the past.