Brands
Kotak Mahindra Bank elevates Nilesh C. to CTO
MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Bank has promoted Nilesh C. to the role of chief technology officer, handing him the keys to the bank’s entire technology engine. The elevation marks a significant step up within the leadership ranks and signals a wider, more unified approach to digital strategy.
Nilesh moves into the CTO chair after serving as CIO and president for wholesale, commercial, and enterprise technology, where he played a central role in shaping the bank’s corporate and commercial tech backbone. His work focused on building systems that could keep pace with the bank’s expanding business, while ensuring reliability at scale.
In his new role, he will oversee the bank’s end-to-end technology agenda, covering digital innovation, platform modernisation, and enterprise engineering standards. The position places him at the heart of Kotak’s push to sharpen its digital edge and streamline operations across business lines.
Before joining Kotak, Nilesh held senior technology leadership roles at Barclays, including CIO for global payments and managing director for retail banking technology. Earlier in his career, he spent several years at JPMorgan Chase, where he served as executive director across technology functions.
His professional journey also includes stints at IDFC Bank and Citi, where he worked on core banking platforms, payments, cash management, and large-scale technology rollouts across multiple regions.
With more than two decades in financial technology, Nilesh’s rise to CTO reflects both his long track record and Kotak’s intent to put technology at the centre of its growth story.
Ola has a new voice. The ride-hailing giant has appointed Shirsha Majumder as senior manager for PR and communications, bringing in a seasoned hand to sharpen its brand narrative and media relations.
Majumder arrives from Acko, where she spent close to four years playing a central role in shaping the insurance company’s communications strategy. Before Acko, she built her credentials across a string of well-regarded organisations including HDFC Life, Adfactors PR and Edelman, accumulating over nine years of experience across reputation management, media relations, strategic messaging and stakeholder engagement.
At Ola, she is expected to bring that breadth of experience to bear on the company’s communications function at a time when the brand is navigating an increasingly competitive and scrutinised market.
For a company that has rarely been far from the headlines, getting the communications right matters. In Majumder, Ola has picked someone who knows how to manage a narrative under pressure.
