Guardian India names Karunakaran Azhisur as Chief Information Officer

Guardian India, the global capability center of Guardian Life Insurance, has appointed Karunakaran Azhisur as its Chief Information Officer for India. In this role, Azhisur will report to Guardian India’s Country Head, Shiney Prasad. 

Azhisur brings over 25 years of experience in technology leadership to Guardian India, having held senior positions across various global firms. Prior to joining Guardian India, he was Global CIO for the Hydro Power Business at GE Vernova, and previously served as Regional CIO for Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, led GE Gas Power’s Global Software Engineering, and managed GE’s India Digital Hub. He was also a board member for GE India Industrials. 

Earlier in his career, Azhisur worked as a Senior Director at VMware, where he led IT Applications Architecture and the SAP Center of Excellence. Before that, he worked with Juniper Networks, initially as Director of IT and later as Senior Director of IT Applications. There, he managed enterprise business transformation programs and established an IT delivery center of excellence to support this initiative. 

Azhisur’s experience also includes a leadership role at Cognizant Technology Solutions, where he served as Director of the Advanced Solutions Practice. In this position, he was responsible for multi-year product engineering programs, innovation, and technology consulting. 

Commenting on the appointment, Shiney Prasad, Country Head, Guardian India, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Karun to Guardian India as we continue evolving our technology and operations capabilities. His appointment is progress in our commitment to bringing together exceptional talent and transformative technology - a combination that is core to our strategic vision.”  

On his appointment, Azhisur said, “Leadership in an organization that places equal emphasis on innovation and well-being aligns perfectly with my vision for digital transformation. I am delighted to join Guardian and look forward to building technology and talent that can make a sincere impact in the lives of consumers and communities.” 

Azhisur holds a postgraduate degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore and a Bachelor of Technology from Anna University in Chennai.