Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Thursday said it has hired Ramesh Lakshminarayanan as its next chief information officer (CIO). The appointment comes nearly four months after the resignation of its then CIO Munish Mittal to pursue higher education in the UK after spending over 25 years at the bank.

This is also the first major hiring the bank has announced under its new chief executive and managing director Sashidhar Jagdishan. Lakshminarayanan joins from rating agency Crisil, where he was serving as the chief technology and information officer, HDFC Bank said in a statement, adding that he has also had stints with Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citibank and ABN Amro Bank.

He joined Crisil in 2017, after Pragmatix Services, a big data and analytics start-up he co-founded, was acquired by the rating agency. ”Ramesh brings an interesting blend of professional expertise as well as an entrepreneurial acumen, acquired while running a start-up,” the bank’s country head for operations and technology Bhavesh Zaveri said.

The role cuts across verticals and his responsibility will be technology strategy, strengthening foundational technology, enhancing the digital capabilities and harnessing new age AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) technology solutions for the bank, the statement said. Lakshminarayanan is a physics graduate and has done his Masters in Business Administration from Pune University.

According to reports, Mittal’s exit was a surprising one and his deputy had also planned an exit alongside. The reports of the exit had come at a time when there were a slew of top management personnel leaving the bank.

First Published:Nov 5, 2020 4:18 PM IST