Headline

Product Head & Technology Strategist | Bridging 13Y Engineering + 8Y Product Leadership | Specialized in Digital Payments & KYC, AI-Driven FRM & Regulatory Compliance (PCI DSS/NPCI)

About

Fintech Leader with a 21+year career built on a unique foundation: 13 years of core software engineering followed by a decade of high-impact product leadership. This dual-perspective allows me to bridge the gap between complex technical architecture and market-ready financial products. Currently, as the Product Head for Digital Payments and KYC at Just Dial, I oversee a platform processing multi million in monthly transactions. My focus is on scaling high-concurrency ecosystems while maintaining healthy success rate and 100% regulatory compliance with PCI/NPCI frameworks. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬: 🚀 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Led the launch of proprietary payment gateways and cloud-native migrations for multi-million user bases. 🤖 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Pioneered OCR-driven KYC automation, reducing onboarding costs by 𝟔𝟔% and TAT by 𝟒𝟑%. 🛡️ 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 & 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Deployed AI/ML fraud mitigation systems that save ₹𝟐.𝟓 𝐂𝐫 annually while ensuring zero non-compliance risk. I thrive at the intersection of product-led growth (PLG) and regulatory governance. I am passionate about building resilient fintech solutions that are secure and seamless. 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞: Digital Payments Architecture | KYC & Onboarding Automation | AI/ML in FRM | P&L Ownership | Regulatory Liaison (NPCI, PCI-DSS) | Cross-functional Leadership.

Location

Bengaluru

Work experience

Head of Product - Digital Payments, KYC at Justdial, Apr 2020 - Present · 6 yrs 5 mos, Bengaluru, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: Directing the end-to-end product lifecycle for the Payments division, managing a portfolio processing ₹1000 Cr+ annually. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Serving as the primary liaison for PCI-DSS/NPCI compliance and external audits, ensuring 100% adherence to evolving digital payment guidelines. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Revolutionized recurring collections via eNach/paperNach, improving cash-flow predictability and reducing failure rates by 40%. 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲: Reduced KYC onboarding costs by 66% and TAT by 43% through OCR-driven automation.

Head of Engineering - Digital Payments at Justdial, Mar 2017 - Apr 2020 · 3 yrs 2 mos, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Led the architectural design and engineering execution for Just Dial’s proprietary payment gateway, transforming it into a high-concurrency ecosystem supporting multi-vertical business units. 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Engineered a high-availability gateway integrated with Tier-1 Banks and Aggregators, managing real-time routing and load balancing to maintain a >93% success rate. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Spearheaded the end-to-end integration of Cards, Net-banking, UPI, and Wallets, ensuring seamless transaction flows for millions of users. 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 & 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Architected a real-time Fraud Management System (FRM) using rule-based engines (IP, Velocity, Card-bin) to mitigate suspicious transactions and secure financial assets. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦: Built a sophisticated reporting dashboard for internal and external merchants, providing real-time data visibility and automated chargeback management. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Led the migration from legacy frameworks to scalable, cloud-native architectures, significantly reducing latency and operational overhead.

Associate Vice President - Engineering at Udio- A product from TranServ, May 2015 - Feb 2017 · 1 yr 10 mos, Mumbai Area, India, Led a high-performance engineering organization (Tech Leads & Engineers) to architect and launch the Udio Wallet & Payment Gateway, a pioneering product in the Indian digital payments space. 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥-𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞: Collaborated directly with Product teams to define requirements and translate business needs into technical specifications for the Udio ecosystem. 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐏𝐈 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: Designed the API stack for wallet services and complex Bank API integrations (NEFT/IMPS), enabling seamless digital payments for internal and external merchants. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬: Spearheaded performance tuning and intelligent routing/load balancing, optimizing transaction success rates based on real-time processor performance and business-specific user limits. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 & 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤: Implemented robust Risk and Fraud Control frameworks to safeguard high-volume wallet transactions.

Senior Project Manager - Global Platform Engineering at Nazara Technologies, Sep 2013 - Apr 2015 · 1 yr 8 mos, Mumbai, Architected and deployed gaming content portals across Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America, managing localized payment and subscription engines. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Designed a proprietary "Game Wrapper" and automated subscription engine for mobile operators, pioneering auto-renewal processing for a global user base. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Acted as a technical consultant for international clients in the Asia Pacific, designing custom platform features to meet specific regional market requirements

Technical Project Lead at Hungama, Oct 2008 - Aug 2013 · 4 yrs 11 mos, Spearheaded the architecture and development of a global media content management system (CMS) handling digital distribution for marquee clients including Vodafone, iTunes, T-Series, and BollywoodHungama. 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Pioneered real-time server bidding and automated content encryption workflows using AWS Cloud APIs, significantly reducing production time and infrastructure costs. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: Designed a robust ingestion and rights management engine capable of real-time content publishing across global partner portals. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Led the engineering for specialized digital distribution systems, ensuring 99.9% uptime for high-traffic media properties. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Orchestrated social engagement and monetization features across Facebook and mobile operator platforms to drive user retention.

Team Leader at Clarion Technologies, 2006 - 2008 · 2 yrs, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Led a cross-functional team of engineers to deliver complex software projects for a global clientele, focusing on high-quality delivery and technical standardization. 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Acted as a System Analyst, directly interfacing with international clients to translate high-level business requirements into detailed technical specifications and Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐂𝐌𝐌𝐢): Spearheaded the documentation and implementation of CMMi processes, including Project Tailoring and integration test frameworks, ensuring institutionalized quality standards. 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: Established the organization’s first HTML standardization benchmark, improving development efficiency and UI consistency across all company projects. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Managed end-to-end project lifecycles, ensuring timely delivery while mentoring the technical team to meet aggressive performance goals.

Education

Master of Arts - MA, English Language and Literature, General, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya

Six Sigma Yellow Belt - Certification, Scrum, 6SigmaStudy