Kotak Mahindra Bank CTO Bhavnish Lathia quits as churn at the top continues

In a letter addressed to managing director and chief executive officer Ashok Vaswani, Lathia said the bank's technology leadership team was well prepared to take on expanded responsibilities

• Kotak Mahindra Bank CTO Bhavnish Lathia resigns, citing personal reasons
• Nilesh Chaudhari appointed CTO, Vijay Narayanan named head of innovation and AI
• Bank sees multiple senior leadership changes in past two years

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Kotak Mahindra Bank has seen another change at the top of its technology leadership, with chief technology officer Bhavnish Lathia stepping down less than a year after taking charge, according to a regulatory filing made by the bank.

Lathia resigned from the role citing personal reasons, with the bank's board accepting his resignation on February 9, 2026. He ceased to hold office as CTO on the same day. In his resignation communication, Lathia indicated that he would be relocating to the United States for personal reasons.

His departure marks the second exit from the CTO position at Kotak Mahindra Bank in a little over a year. Lathia had assumed the role after the resignation of Silicon Valley-based technology leader Milind Nagnur, who stepped down in January 2025 after serving for just over two years.

In a letter addressed to managing director and chief executive officer Ashok Vaswani, Lathia said the bank's technology leadership team was well prepared to take on expanded responsibilities. He added that while resignations are never ideally timed, he believed this was the right moment to make way for the next generation of technology leaders.

Following the resignation, the bank has moved quickly to reorganise its technology leadership. The board has approved the appointment of Nilesh Chaudhari as the new chief technology officer, designating him as part of the bank's senior management. In addition, Aravamudham (Vijay) Narayanan has been appointed head of innovation and artificial intelligence, also as a senior management personnel. Both appointments take effect from February 10, 2026.

The changes were disclosed by the bank under Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.

The Economic Times reported that Bhavnish Lathia's exit adds to a string of senior leadership changes at Kotak Mahindra Bank over the past few years.

The report noted that Virat Diwanji, who headed the bank's consumer banking business, superannuated in July 2024. This was followed by the departure of Ambuj Chandna, head of consumer banking assets, who resigned in January 2025 to take up a role as consumer banking head at DBS Bank.

The same month also saw Milind Nagnur step down as chief technology officer, with his exit linked to his relocation to the United States. Earlier, in April 2024, Phani Shekhar, who led the bank's credit function, exited the organisation.

The Economic Times further pointed out that Shanti Ekambaram, among Kotak Mahindra Bank's longest-serving and most influential executives, retired toward the end of 2025, underscoring a period of significant leadership transition at the private sector lender.