MANAGEMENT TEAM

R.M. Vishakha is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of our Company. She joined IndiaFirst Life with effect from March 3, 2015. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Osmania University and holds a post graduate diploma in computer systems from the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad. She is currently a member of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of India and a fellow of the Insurance Institute of India. Previously, she was associated with Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company Limited as head of sales and marketing. She was awarded the ‘CEO of the Year’ award by Campaign India’s Women Leading Change 2022. She was recognised as one of Femina’s ‘Promising Women Leaders of India’ in 2022, She has also been featured among the top 50 of Fortune India’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ in 2017, 2018 and 2019, Business Today’s ‘Most Powerful Women of 2022’, Business World’s ‘India’s Most Influential Women’ by Business World in 2019, Forbes’ ‘2018 W-Power Trailblazers’ in 2018 and among India’s women leaders in the BFSI sector by the Economic Times in 2021 and 2022 

Rushabh Gandhi, Deputy CEO, IndiaFirst Life joined the organisation with effect from May 9, 2015. He holds a Master’s degree in Management Studies from the University of Mumbai. Rushabh has served Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company Limited, Aviva Life Insurance Company Limited, and Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited in his earlier stints.

He was awarded the ‘Business Leadership’ award by the Indian Achievers’ Forum for 2021-2022, the ‘Visionary Leadership’ award under the Elets BFSI Gamechanger Awards in 2022, and the ‘Innovative Leader’ award by Silver Feather Awards in 2021. In addition to Sales and Distribution, Rushabh oversees Marketing, Products, Customer Experience, Strategy, Business Development, and Human Capital at IndiaFirst Life.

Kedar Patki is the Chief Financial Officer of our Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Pune and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He joined our Company with effect from August 6, 2019. Previously, he was the chief financial officer of IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company Limited. He was also associated with Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited as vice president (finance and accounts), AXA Business Services Private Limited as associate vice president and with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited as senior manager (finance). He has also previously worked at SBI Life Insurance Company Limited. He is inter alia responsible for planning, budgeting, finance and investment operations in our Company. 

Atri Chakraborty is the Chief Operating Officer of our Company. He holds a master’s degree in management studies from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. He joined our Company with effect from June 30, 2020. Previously, he was associated with Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited as the chief of operations and facilities and with Citibank N.A. as an assistant vice-president. He is inter alia responsible for distribution and branch operations, customer service, persistency, new business and underwriting, claims and change management in our Company. 

Praveen Menon is the Chief Human Resource Officer of our Company. He holds a master’s degree in financial management from the University of Mumbai, a diploma in business management from the L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai and an executive post graduate diploma in human resources management from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has passed the junior associate examination of the Indian Institute of Bankers. He joined our Company with effect from November 2, 2015. Previously, he was associated with Axis Bank Limited as deputy vice president (human resources), the textiles, acrylic fibre and overseas spinning business of the Aditya Birla group as assistant vice president (human resources) and with Nielsen (India) Private Limited as associate director (compensation and benefits for India region). He is inter alia responsible for human resources, training, administration and infrastructure, group business and procurement in our Company. 

Bikash Choudhary is the Chief Actuarial & Governance Officer of our company. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK. He is an M. Tech from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and an M. Sc in Statistics from Hindu College, University of Delhi. He has more than 20 years of work experience in the Life Insurance industry and actuarial consulting working in various markets including India, the UK, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong etc.

He joined our company with effect from December 1, 2022. Previously, he was associated with Future Generali India Life insurance, where he was the Appointed Actuary and Chief Risk Officer as well as overseeing product development. He has also worked in Towers Watson, Bajaj Allianz Life and Aviva India. He is inter alia responsible for overseeing Actuarial, Governance, Product, and Strategy functions in our company.

Sunanda Roy is the Chief Distribution Officer – Bank of Baroda of our Company. He holds a post graduate diploma in general management from the Emeritus Institute of Management, Singapore. He joined our Company with effect from December 17, 2018. Previously, he was associated with Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited as senior vice president (retail sales), Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited as premier relationship manager in Kolkata and with Bharti Mobitel Limited as key accounts manager. He is inter alia responsible for sales and distribution, business development and channel relationships for Bank of Baroda in our Company. 

Munish Bhardwaj is the Chief Distribution Officer – UBI & Emerging Channels at IndiaFirst Life. He oversees IndiaFirst Life’s RRB, Strategic Alliances, Micro & Direct and has successfully penetrated IndiaFirst Life’s product offerings across geographies pan India.

He is tasked with enhancing the company footprint across multi-channels and is credited with the successful establishment and growth of business performance in low performing Bank Of Baroda branches. In addition to this, his prior experience of being the Head of Bancassurance channel has enabled him to reach customers everywhere in the country. Munish consistently endeavours to fulfil the objective of bringing life insurance to the last mile.

A successful industry professional, he has also held stints at companies like HDFC Life and Bajaj Allianz in addition to the pharma industry.

In addition to being an MBA graduate, Munish holds a Bachelor of Science in Maths from the University of Rajasthan and a Diploma in Computer Science from the Birla Institute Of Scientific Research. He has undertaken various management development programmes over the years.

Subhankar Sengupta is the Chief Marketing & Development Officer of our Company. He attended the bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Kolkata and holds a post graduate diploma in business management from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Kolkata. He joined our Company with effect from October 1, 2019. Previously, he was associated with Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited as head (HDFC Bank branch banking. HDFC securities) in partnership distribution, Ahli Bank (QSC) as head of direct sales, Standard Chartered Bank India as area sales manager under liabilities (direct sales) and with Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited as assistant manager 245 (retail). He is inter alia responsible for business generation through the open architecture bancassurance relationship with Union Bank and business generation through brokers and corporate agents in the non-exclusive business environment in our Company. 

Dr. Poonam Tandon is the Chief Investment Officer of our Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce (honours) from the University of Delhi, a post graduate diploma in business management from the Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur and a doctorate of philosophy in management studies from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. She is a certified associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers. She joined our Company with effect from February 25, 2010. Previously, she was associated with MetLife India Insurance Company Limited as chief manager (investments). She is inter alia responsible for overseeing the investment function in our Company. 

Anjana Rao is the SVP & Head - Digital & Direct Sales Officer of our Company. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. She joined our Company with effect from December 28, 2015. Previously, she was associated with Ernst & Young LLP as senior manager (performance improvement advisory), Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Limited as assistant general manager (IT) and also worked at Oracle India Private Limited. She has completed the change management certification program from Prosci and the Change Management Learning Center as well as the course on design thinking from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She is inter alia responsible for driving business transformation through innovation in our Company. 

Sankaranarayanan Raghavan is the Chief Technology and Data Officer of our Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science and a master’s degree in business administration from Bharathidasan University. He has also completed the post graduate programme in management for senior executives at the Indian School of Business and is currently a fellow of the Insurance Institute of India and the Life Management Institute. He joined our Company with effect from June 22, 2020. He has over 26 years of experience in digital strategy and business management. Previously, he was the chief operating officer of Aegon Life Insurance Company Limited. He was also associated with HCL Technologies Limited as senior business manager, Computer Sciences Corporation India Private Limited as business analyst and with Life Insurance Corporation of India as an assistant. He is inter alia responsible for data and data sciences strategy, implementation and monitoring efficiency in our Company.

Sunder Natarajan is the Chief Risk Officer of our Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras and a post graduate diploma in business administration from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. He has passed the licentiate examination of the Insurance Institute of India as well as the intermediate examination held by the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. He is currently the volunteer deputy chair of the India regional group of the Institute of Risk Management. He joined our Company with effect from September 15, 2015. Previously, he was associated with Aviva Life Insurance Company Limited as vice president (customer operations). He is inter alia responsible for overseeing the risk, internal audit and legal functions in our Company. 

Bhavna Verma is the Appointed Actuary of our Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree in arts (mathematics) from the University of Delhi. She is currently a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in India and a fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in the United Kingdom. She joined our Company with effect from March 14, 2022 and was designed as Appointed Actuary with effect from March 21, 2022. Previously, she was associated with Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Limited as senior vice president, Towers Watson India Private Limited as a consultant and with Milliman India Private Limited as a trainee actuary. She is inter alia responsible for managing actuarial function, including overseeing regulatory and shareholder reporting, product development and management and financial and insurance risk analysis in our Company. 

Naman Gupta is currently the SVP & Head - Branch Ops, Persistency & Financial Ops at IndiaFirst Life.

He is a founder member of IndiaFirst Life and has played a significant role in setting up and defining the Operations and Service Department at the company. Passionate about delivering customer delight, Naman aims to instil the #CustomerFirst philosophy in every dimension across the company.

Naman began his journey at IndiaFirst Life as a business analyst and then went to head the New Business Operations department. He was elevated to the position of Head-Customer Service and Channel Services. During this time, the company received recognition by reputed industry forums and titled Customer Service provider of the year 2019, Customer Excellence in Insurance Sector and Best use of technology in a Contact centre among others.

His breadth of experience includes previous stints at Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company and Reliance Retail Ltd. Here, he not only played a key role in setting up multiple branches successfully but also managed branch operations diligently over the course of time.

He believes in empowering and mentoring his team members to ensure overall personal and professional growth. Naman is a commerce graduate and holds a post graduate degree in Management Studies with a specialisation in Finance and Marketing from the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad.

Amey Pramod Patil is the SVP & Head - Credit Life & Agency at IndiaFirst Life. A founder member, since joining IndiaFirst Life in 2009, Amey has been instrumental in ensuring a robust growth across different sales verticals. Under his leadership, in the last three years, the GCL channel has witnessed a sharp growth by 300% in addition to penetrating additional markets pan India which has led to making this channel the highest VNB margin for the company. Before becoming the Country Head in 2021, Amey was the National Head - GCL Channel at IndiaFirst Life and prior to that the National Head of the Bancassurance West Zone channel.

His breadth of industry experience spans over two decades where he was associated with companies like Reliance Nippon Life Insurance and Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance.

An effective leader, Amey believes in empowering each individual in his team. He deems them to be the best decision makers at the heart of action.

Amey holds a Master of Financial Services degree, LLB and Bachelor of Commerce degree from Goa University. He is also a recipient of the Cultural Champion Award.

Abhijeet Powdwal is the SVP & Head - Marketing Officer at IndiaFirst Life. He currently spearheads the company’s Marketing, PR, Customer Experience and Digital Sales functions

A seasoned industry professional, his breadth of experience spans over 23 years across Brand Management, Advertising & PR, Digital Marketing, Sales & Customer acquisition. His fantastic marketing acumen can be credited to the various leadership roles he has held in the BFSI industry with companies like IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank and IDBI Federal Life. In addition to this, Abhijeet has also donned different hats during his stint in Strategic Consulting with different organizations.

Abhijeet holds a PGDBA from K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management and a BSc Degree from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Sameer Gupta is the SVP & Head - Strategy BOB Channel Officer at IndiaFirst Life. His role encompasses driving sales and product strategy which is focussed on creating value for business and steering business growth.

In addition to this he is also responsible for managing key business partnerships & developing robust sales models to ensure business predictability across Bancassurance & Alternate Channels.

Since joining IndiaFirst Life as one of the founder members, he has significantly contributed towards developing efficient sales management tools in addition to securing and executing profitable partnerships.

His professional journey spans over 23 years in the insurance industry. Prior to joining IndiaFirst Life, he was associated with companies like HDFC Life & Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance where he gained rich experience of sales across Agency & Banca Channels.

Sameer holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Centre for Management Development, Modinagar.