Bain names Satish Shankar as new APAC regional managing partner

Global strategy and management leader Bain & Company has appointed Satish Shankar as its new Regional Managing Partner for the Asia Pacific.

Effective from the beginning of next month, global business and management consultancy Bain & Company will have a new Regional Managing Partner for the Asia Pacific – long-time company stalwart and current Southeast Asia leader Satish Shankar, who was announced as the firm’s new APAC regional head by Filipino-American Worldwide Managing Partner Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Maceda.

“Satish is the perfect leader to drive our APAC region through another period of successful growth, delivering enduring results for our clients, and inspiring Bain’s people to greatness,” Maceda said of the appointment. “He truly has the ability, experience, and character that fits best with our needs in the region for the years ahead, as we continue to partner and team with our clients around the world.”

Specialised in business turnaround and market entry strategies, M&A, operational excellence, and organisational development, Shankar has been with Bain for more than 20 years, joining in 1997 after three years spent in the area of corporate finance in Indonesia. Since then, he has built up a roster of clients across several industries, including the Energy, Transportation, and Consumer Products sectors.

Previously heading up Bain’s mergers & acquisitions practice in the Asia Pacific, the Singapore-based Shankar has for the past five years overseen the consulting firm’s Southeast Asian business – including helping to grow new offices in Indonesia (2013), Malaysia and Thailand (2010) – with the firm experiencing strong double-digit growth in the region under his tenure.

Continuing from his base in Singapore, Shankar will now be charged with overseeing strategy, operations, training and development across 15 Bain locations in the Asia Pacific, with a stated focus on helping the management teams of national and multinational organisations achieve greater efficiency, competitiveness and future-readiness through organisational transformations.

“It is a privilege to take on this new role and to continue working with our talented and diverse team to help our clients across the region achieve exceptional results,” said Shankar. “As we continue to approach our industry with an insurgent mindset, we remain dedicated to helping clients be disrupters, and APAC is an area with exciting growth and significant innovation – which is critical to our firm’s long term success.”

Working closely together during the transition period, Shankar will take over the helm from current Hong Kong-based APAC head Dale Cottrell, who has been in the role for the past six years and will continue on in the area of client service in accordance with the firm’s ‘servant leader’ model – which sees “partners regularly rotate into leadership roles and then back to client work.”

Cottrell has been with Bain since 2002, previously serving as Australia Managing Partner for seven years prior to taking the top APAC job – a region which saw ‘unprecedented growth’ under his stewardship – according to the firm both in terms of terms of strong double digit growth and in its strategic priority to deliver leading-edge digital and analytic solutions to drive business disruption.

“It’s been a true privilege to serve in this role and to have seen the firm continue to achieve monumental success and growth across cutting-edge technology solutions, from AI, machine learning and blockchain to automation, robotics and IoT,” Cottrell said. “My biggest source of pride has been working with the very best people, across such a diverse set of markets and expertise, to help our clients navigate disruptive forces and deliver out-performance in their industry.”