Citizens Financial Group (CFG) has appointed Rajesh Mani as Managing Director of its India Global Capability Center (GCC), strengthening the bank’s leadership team as it accelerates its technology transformation and expands its engineering capabilities in India. Announcing the appointment, Michael Ruttledge, Chief Information Officer and Head of Enterprise Technology & Security at Citizens Bank, said Rajesh’s extensive experience in building and scaling global technology organizations would play a key role in shaping the future of the company’s India operations. “I’m excited to welcome Rajesh Mani to my leadership team as Global Capability Center (GCC) Managing Director for CFG India,” Ruttledge said.
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“Rajesh brings deep experience building and scaling global technology organizations and a strong track record of developing high-performing teams. As we continue to invest in our technology transformation, his leadership will be instrumental in helping us build a world-class GCC that drives innovation, strengthens our engineering excellence and accelerates our long-term strategy.” He added that India is home to exceptional technology talent and said the India GCC would play an increasingly important role in driving innovation and supporting Citizens’ long-term growth strategy. Commenting on his appointment, Rajesh Mani described the role as an opportunity to contribute to Citizens Financial Group at a transformative stage in its journey.
“Excited to officially announce my next step as Managing Director for Citizens Financial Group’s India GCC at such a pivotal moment in the company’s transformation journey. The vision and energy driving Citizens’ tech modernization agenda are truly inspiring, and I’m honored to lead the India Center into its next phase of scale and impact,” he said. Rajesh said India’s GCC landscape is evolving rapidly from being execution-focused centres to becoming global hubs for strategic capabilities, artificial intelligence, digital engineering and enterprise ownership.
“CFG’s India GCC is ideally positioned to be at the forefront of this evolution, shaping how next-generation banking capabilities are built and delivered. I look forward to partnering with colleagues across Citizens, industry leaders, academia and the broader GCC ecosystem as we continue to build something special,” he added. Rajesh Mani brings more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning global capability centres, technology, digital payments, business transformation and market expansion across the Asia-Pacific region.
Before joining Citizens Financial Group, he led Global Capability Centers for Mastercard across Asia Pacific and served as a Board Director of Mastercard Technologies India. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in transforming the company’s Pune technology hub into Mastercard’s largest global technology centre. He also held several regional and country leadership positions within Mastercard. Earlier in his career, Rajesh held leadership roles at American Express, Airtel Money (now Airtel Payments Bank), ITC Limited and Matrimony.com, where he led business expansion, built digital commerce platforms and developed large-scale merchant and payments ecosystems.
