SBI rejigs senior leadership, appoints new CIO, chief digital officer

In a bid to strengthen its digital capabilities, State Bank of India (SBI), the largest lender in the country, has reshuffled the senior leadership in its technology department. 

The bank on Monday said that Ravindra Pandey, its deputy managing director (DMD) for strategy and chief digital officer, will now take charge as the DMD and chief information officer (CIO). 

Pandey will be leading the entire IT ecosystem of the bank, including the running of its core banking system, digital channels as well as 400+ applications, a statement said.  

He brings over three decades of experience in digital transformation, digital banking, payment solutions, retail, corporate and international banking, and will be working towards future proofing SBI by implementing emerging technologies such as AI, ML, analytics, robotics, blockchain, etc.  

The role held by Pandey – DMD (Strategy) and chief digital officer – will go to Rana Ashutosh Kumar Singh, the bank’s DMD (HR) and corporate development officer (CDO).  

Singh has been associated with SBI for nearly three decades and also handled important assignments in retail banking, credit, HR, and international banking, the statement said.  

He also served as the chief general manager (CGM) at SBI Chandigarh circle as well as handled operations of the bank in Germany as the CEO of Frankfurt branch. 

Singh’s role will be taken over by Om Prakash Mishra who became deputy managing director (DMD) in April 2021 and held the position of chief general manager (CGM) of SBI Hyderabad circle prior to that. 

At the end of December 2020, SBI had 85 million internet banking and 19 million mobile banking users.  

Meanwhile, the bank's number of UPI users stood at 135 million.