Citizens Financial Group Names Rajesh Mani to Lead India Global Capability Centre

Hyderabad, India: Citizens Financial Group has appointed Rajesh Mani as the Head of its India Global Capability Centre (GCC), reinforcing the bank’s long-term commitment to expanding its technology and innovation capabilities in India. The leadership appointment comes as the U.S.-based financial institution continues to strengthen its Hyderabad operations following the launch of its GCC earlier this year.

Rajesh Mani brings more than two decades of experience in banking technology, payments, digital transformation, and global engineering leadership. Before joining Citizens Financial Group, he held senior leadership positions at Mastercard, where he led the company’s India Technology Hub and played a significant role in scaling engineering teams and driving innovation initiatives.

In his new role, Mani will oversee the strategic direction, growth, and operational excellence of the India GCC. He will be responsible for expanding the centre’s technology capabilities while strengthening collaboration with global business and technology teams across Citizens Financial Group.

The Hyderabad GCC serves as a strategic technology and innovation hub supporting the bank’s enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives. The centre focuses on areas including cloud engineering, data and analytics, cybersecurity, software engineering, artificial intelligence, and digital banking solutions. It is expected to play an increasingly important role in accelerating product development, improving customer experiences, and modernizing the bank’s technology infrastructure.
Citizens Financial Group established its India GCC in Hyderabad through a strategic partnership with Cognizant. The centre was launched with plans to scale to approximately 1,000 professionals, supporting the bank’s “Next Generation Technology” strategy while leveraging Hyderabad’s growing ecosystem of technology talent

The appointment of Rajesh Mani reflects Citizens Financial Group’s focus on building a strong local leadership team capable of driving innovation, attracting high-quality engineering talent, and delivering strategic technology outcomes from India. His expertise in managing large-scale technology organizations is expected to help the company accelerate its digital transformation roadmap and strengthen the GCC’s position as a key contributor to global operations.