Chief Information Officer — AI Safety Programme

The mandate

Further expansion has been withheld until the investment committee can see a credible route out of a costly and brittle enterprise technology estate. Core services have accumulated point integrations, inconsistent identity controls and infrastructure commitments whose economics are hard to reconcile. The same estate now supports an AI safety programme expected to produce defensible evidence for customers and governance bodies. The Chief Information Officer must renew the foundation without creating a long transformation that asks the business to wait for value.

The remit supports approximately ₹1,100 crore in AI product and services revenue and covers about 500 employees and material partners across India, Hyderabad and the wider operating region. It includes enterprise platforms, workplace technology, cyber security, data services, architecture, service management and supplier dependencies. Some capabilities directly support safety testing and assurance; others consume scarce investment while adding fragility. The first challenge is establishing which is which.

Trust is the organising problem. Leaders do not yet share a sufficiently reliable view of service health, technology cost, control coverage or renewal risk. Business teams experience technology as a sequence of local commitments, while the board receives aggregated indicators that do not always expose concentration and obsolescence. You will replace that ambiguity with an evidence-led portfolio and a target state that the enterprise can fund.

Why this seat is open

This is a new permanent CIO position created because distributed ownership can no longer resolve the enterprise-trust gap. Interim governance protects immediate services but does not provide durable executive accountability. An urgent process is expected to convert a qualified field into an accepted appointment within six to eight weeks. The role is onsite in Hyderabad and reports to the Group Chief Executive or a designated executive committee sponsor.

What you will own

You will establish an authoritative baseline of applications, infrastructure, contracts, data flows, identities, controls and service performance. The baseline must connect technology consumption with product and customer value rather than remain an asset register. It should make visible where custom integration, unsupported components or supplier concentration creates disproportionate operating and safety exposure.

From that evidence, you will propose a funded target architecture. Decisions will include what to retire, modernise, consolidate, source or retain, and which sequencing best protects business continuity. Investment cases must account for transition cost, dual running, migration risk and avoided future spend. Architecture governance should be fast enough for delivery teams to use and strong enough to prevent another generation of unmanaged exceptions.

AI safety evidence needs dependable technical custody. You will clarify ownership for identity, data lineage, evaluation artefacts, access, change records and incident response across the programme. Cyber hygiene should be built into service operation, not presented as a parallel compliance campaign. Material suppliers require tested recovery expectations and commercial accountability for the risks they control.

The technology organisation also needs renewal. You will assess 500 employees and partners, distinguish enduring capability from contractor dependency and appoint leaders who can own services end to end. Business engagement must shift from order-taking to explicit trade-offs. Finance, risk and product leaders should receive one transparent account of cost, resilience and progress.

The first 12 months

In the first 90 days, stabilise immediate service and cyber risks while producing a reconciled estate baseline. Walk critical business journeys, test recovery evidence, examine high-cost supplier arrangements and trace representative AI safety artefacts to their source. Assess direct reports and agree decision gates, scorecards and investment principles with the executive sponsor.

Between months four and nine, begin the highest-value retirements and renewals, strengthen identity and vulnerability disciplines and put priority services under named end-to-end owners. Negotiate the most consequential supplier dependencies and demonstrate one migration that improves reliability and economics without impairing customer delivery. Establish a quarterly technology portfolio forum grounded in evidence.

At month twelve, the board should see stable services, stronger cyber hygiene and transparent technology economics. A sequenced, funded target architecture must be in execution, with measurable reduction in brittleness and explicit downside options if delivery or benefits vary. The following year’s capital plan should link directly to service, safety and commercial outcomes.

What the board will measure

The agreed first-year technology case should remain within a 10% tolerance, with cost and schedule variance identified before a formal reporting close. Forecasts over three quarters must reconcile cash, service demand, customer dependencies and workforce capacity. A selected constraint behind the trust gap—such as unsupported estate exposure, recovery reliability or cost attribution—must improve from a verified baseline.

Critical cyber and service issues should close by approved dates with independent confirmation that the fix endures. The organisation expects at least 90% retention among scarce technology and safety talent, alongside ready-now successors for 70% of direct reports. Severe incidents or control exceptions may not remain undecided for more than 30 days.

The person

You are a CIO, Regional CIO or Enterprise Technology Head with 18–22 years in AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics, applied research or a similarly demanding technology context. You have directly carried at least ₹900 crore of P&L, budget, book or accountable portfolio and led no fewer than 500 people.

Your evidence includes renewal of a brittle estate while live services remained consequential. You understand infrastructure economics, cyber resilience, data and control evidence, and can explain why particular assets were retained or removed. The board will explore a moment when the original transformation plan failed and your decisions restored confidence. References must substantiate your personal contribution.

Compensation and terms

The expected package is ₹3.2–4.6 crore fixed plus performance variable and LTI, calibrated to the eventual scope and current mix. Long-term participation uses standard vesting and performance conditions. A notice period up to six months can be accommodated. The CIO will have regular access to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors.

Confidentiality

The organisation, estate vulnerabilities and investment decisions remain undisclosed until reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking. Published scale and circumstances are rounded and blended and do not identify a specific enterprise.