Karnataka Bank has appointed Sughosh Nagendra as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with effect from 30 October 2026, the Mangaluru-headquartered private lender told the stock exchanges in a filing under Regulation 30 of the SEBI Listing Regulations. Nagendra, an engineer with more than 27 years in information technology, joins in the General Manager cadre as Senior Management Personnel.
The appointment fills a key technology role at a bank serving about 14 million customers through 976 branches and 1,460 ATMs and recyclers. It comes days after the lender reported a strong September quarter, covered in Karnataka Bank’s Q2 FY27 results.
Who is Karnataka Bank CTO Sughosh Nagendra?
Nagendra holds a B.E. degree from the National Institute of Engineering, University of Mysore. The bank’s disclosure lists his expertise across IT strategy and governance, digital transformation, cloud computing, data centre operations, IT service management, production assurance, cybersecurity, vulnerability management, legacy systems modernisation and enterprise architecture.
His career, as outlined in published industry profiles, began in IT services in 1996 with stints at HCL Technologies, Wipro and TCS before he moved to the banking side. He has since held technology operations roles at Barclays, Allstate, UBS and First Abu Dhabi Bank, served as CTO of RBL Bank, worked in the technology transformation office at YES BANK, and most recently was Chief Digital and Information Officer at Agilus Diagnostics.
What the new CTO inherits
Karnataka Bank’s Q2 FY27 investor presentation, released on 28 October 2026, sets out five digital pillars: digitisation, strategic partnerships, enterprise transformation, data and AI acceleration. Projects already live or in pilot include:
- CKYC-based account opening (pilot) and digitised gold loans
- Interest-bearing credit lines on UPI, SD-WAN rollout and an automated NACH solution
- A common data platform and RBI’s MuleHunter tool to flag mule accounts
- Sales Buddy, an AI assistant, and an AI voice bot for sales (pilot)
The pipeline is just as heavy: a Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) compliance solution, a new treasury application, a new NPA system, DevSecOps, an AI-enabled security information and event management (SIEM) system, voice bots for collections and WhatsApp banking for insurance and fixed deposits. The bank reported 33.36 lakh mobile app installations and 7.22 lakh net banking users in the same presentation.
Nagendra also builds on earlier bets, including the API platform upgrade with IBM and the digital supply chain finance platform built with CredAble.
Why it matters for mid-sized private banks
Mid-sized lenders are under pressure to modernise legacy cores while meeting tougher cyber resilience and data protection rules. Technology leadership has become a board-level priority, as seen when Bank of Baroda named Rakesh Nema as CTO in August. For Karnataka Bank, which is led by MD and CEO Raghavendra S Bhat, the CTO’s mandate spans production stability, cybersecurity posture and scaling AI use cases from pilot to bank-wide rollout.
The appointment follows other senior management changes at the bank this year, including the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Raja B S on 19 October 2026. The full disclosure is available in the bank’s NSE filing.
Key takeaways
- Sughosh Nagendra became Karnataka Bank’s Chief Technology Officer on 30 October 2026, in the General Manager cadre.
- He brings 27-plus years in IT across global banks, insurers and Indian lenders, including a previous CTO role at RBL Bank.
- His agenda includes DPDP compliance, AI-enabled security monitoring, a new treasury system and scaling AI voice bots.
Featured image: A Karnataka Bank branch and e-Lobby in Bengaluru. Photo: Rajaramraok / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
