Mahesh Balasubramanian

Not knowing-it-all is my biggest asset along with an eagerness to learn new things has fuelled a career full of excitement and growth. With six greenfield projects under my belt, my life has rather been challenging and full of opportunities in manufacturing and BFSI domain, having managed business across Industrial Equipment, Retail assets, Retail liabilities, and General and Life Insurance. My journey at Kotak started with Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2005 as a core member of the nascent retail liabilities and branch banking business. The bank expanded rapidly and we built a significant scale while establishing a differentiated high quality retail franchisee. In 2014, I had the privilege to become the founding CEO of Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Co. Ltd (KGI). From setting up the company, and getting the licence to on boarding a talented team of domain experts and building a robust risk management culture with a focus on digital processes and customer service, this was undoubtedly one of the most challenging and rewarding phases of my career. In my current role as the Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company (Kotak Life), I am responsible for overseeing all of the company’s business segments with a focus on building scale and value with relentless customer focus and quality, by leveraging on our digital capabilities. A Mechanical Engineer and a management post graduate, my career started at Godrej & Boyce in 1992 where I set up the export department for the Material Handling Equipment division. In 1994, I took a lateral shift to retail finance by joining Cholamandalam Investment & Finance company to set up their retail assets business in western India. After a five-year stint at Chola, I was deputed to the Murugappa group to work on strategy and change management. In the year 2000, the entrepreneurial bug bit me and I co-founded Apnaloan.com – India’s first and largest online loan marketplace for credit cards, personal, car & home loans. Apnaloan was a concept and the company was way ahead of its time. My strengths lie in spreading an entrepreneurial spirit at work, driving collaboration and creating a purpose-led organisation that makes an impact, which eventually matters to all our communities and other stakeholders. An avid reader, a sports enthusiast and a half marathoner, I like to challenge the status quo and am ever willing to experiment with creative and innovative solutions to manage scale with productivity and profitability.