The former Nike, Lazada and Victoria’s Secret leader brings three decades of fashion, retail and e-commerce experience as PointAI scales its Simulation AI across global fashion and beauty
Singapore, 16 September 2026: PointAI Private Limited is strengthening its global fashion and beauty leadership with the appointment of Afshan Banu as Global Head of Fashion & Beauty.
Bringing more than three decades of experience across fashion, retail, e-commerce and brand building, Banu has held senior leadership positions with Nike, Lazada and Victoria’s Secret, among other global brands. Based in Singapore, she will lead PointAI’s global fashion and beauty strategy, partnerships and category expertise as the company expands its Simulation AI platform across international markets.
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From Global Fashion to Simulation AI
Banu’s career spans more than 30 years across fashion retail and digital commerce in Asia and international markets.
At Nike, she served as Senior Director of E-commerce for Southeast Asia and India, overseeing digital initiatives across Nike.com, the Nike App, SNKRS and marketplace partnerships.
Her time at Lazada saw her serve as Executive Vice President, where she led the fashion vertical and developed more than 250 partnerships with global brands across LazMall.
Earlier, as Assistant Vice President at Victoria’s Secret under the Valiram Group, Banu was responsible for brand development and profitability across Asia and Australia, helping scale the business to more than 150 doors across over 10 countries.
Her experience also includes roles and assignments involving GAP, Williams Sonoma and Triumph. Most recently, she served as Chief Executive Officer, Fashion and Beauty at Opptra, an AI-enabled distribution platform for brands.
At PointAI, her mandate will bring this combination of brand-side, retail and marketplace experience into the company’s push to make Simulation AI more commercially relevant to fashion and beauty businesses.
Moving AI Beyond the Image
PointAI describes its technology as a physics-based Simulation AI engine designed to address some of the more complex challenges in digital fashion — particularly fit, fabric behaviour and drape.
According to the company, its engine can generate deterministic, physics-accurate outputs in under two seconds and at a lower GPU cost than generative AI approaches.
The company says its technology currently spans virtual try-on, 3D product visualisation, AI catalogue generation, size and fit recommendations and intelligent shopping assistance.
Its stated objective is to move beyond AI-generated content towards a system that can be deployed at scale across large commerce catalogues.
PointAI says it holds more than 70 granted patents globally covering virtual try-on, generative cataloguing and spatial commerce, and counts Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Zivame among its partners.
“Fashion Is Still One of the Hardest Categories to Digitise”
Banu sees the intersection of physical product realities and digital commerce as one of the key opportunities for Simulation AI.
“Fashion is still one of the hardest categories to digitise because fit and drape are physical facts, not just images.”
She added that her experience across brands, retailers and platforms gives her a perspective on what businesses can practically adopt, with PointAI positioning Simulation AI as a way to address growth, profitability and customer experience simultaneously.
Nitin Vats, Founder and CEO, PointAI, said Banu’s experience at Nike and Lazada would bring a brand and marketplace perspective to the company’s technology as it moves from demonstrations towards broader commercial deployment.
From Online Try-On to the Retail Floor
PointAI’s technology is also being extended beyond conventional e-commerce interfaces.
The company says its AI shopping experience can combine real-time virtual try-on, fabric texture and drape visualisation, fit and size recommendations, AI-powered styling and mix-and-match, catalogue generation and checkout within a conversational shopping journey.
The same technology is being adapted for physical retail through interactive trial rooms, AI fashion advisors and virtual trial standees, bringing digital visualisation into the in-store experience.
Scaling Across Global Markets
Banu’s appointment comes as PointAI expands its Simulation AI platform across fashion, beauty, automotive and enterprise applications.
The company is also building its commercial presence across India, Asia-Pacific and North America, as brands and retailers increasingly explore moving AI initiatives from experimentation into production environments.
With Banu joining its leadership team, PointAI is positioning fashion and beauty as a key category for demonstrating how simulation-led AI can connect product discovery, merchandising and customer experience across both digital and physical retail.
