THE WORD THAT perfectly describes Arundhati T Bhattacharya's cabin in Salesforce's Mumbai office is immaculate. There are no piles of papers or pending files on her spotlessly clean white desk. From a potted plant in the corner to a picture on the wall, everything is in the right place. The white walls and the all-around neatness manifest the clarity of purpose of the room's occupant. This focussed approach has been the hallmark of the former State Bank of India (SBI) chairman, who is now Chairperson & CEO of Salesforce India, the local entity of the San Francisco-headquartered $26.5-billion enterprise software company. Hence, it is no surprise that the jury of the BT-KPMG Best Banks and Fintechs Survey 2021-22 unanimously decided to confer on her the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bhattacharya took charge of SBI-the country's largest lender-in 2013 and was the bank's first (and till date only) woman chairman. Her four-year tenure is remembered for the way she transitioned the 217-year-old state-owned lender into a digitalised enterprise. "It was a very well-entrenched organisation that I took over with everything from the power of the chairman, composition of the committees, to the periodicity of the board meetings [being] well-defined. It was also a legacy organisation that had inherited a lot of stuff that probably was in need of being updated to keep up with the changes," says Bhattacharya, 66, between sips of tea.
But it wasn't easy. For example, her efforts at creating a professionally-driven foundation to oversee the spending of 1 per cent of the bank's profits on CSR were rejected thrice by the Reserve Bank of India for the lack of such a provision in The Banking Regulation Act of 1949. "It was with a lot of effort and persuasion that we ultimately got permission for the foundation," she says.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 05, 2023-Ausgabe von Business Today India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 05, 2023-Ausgabe von Business Today India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
"Inaction is worse than mistakes"
What was the problem you were grappling with?
TEEING OFF WITH TITANS
BUSINESS TODAY GOLF RESUMES ITS STORIED JOURNEY WITH THE 2024-25 SEASON OPENER IN DELHI-NCR. THERE ARE SIX MORE CITIES TO COME
AI FOOT FORWARD
THE WHO'S WHO OF THE AI WORLD GATHERED AT THE TAJ MAHAL PALACE IN MUMBAI TO DELIBERATE THE TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT OF AI ON INNOVATION, INDUSTRIES, AND EVERYDAY LIFE.
Decolonising the Walls
ART START-UP MAAZI MERCHANT IS ON A MISSION TO BRING INDIA'S FORGOTTEN ART BACK HOME
"I'm bringing Kotak under one narrative, one strategy, one umbrella”
Ashok Vaswani is a global banker who spent most of his career overseas at institutions like Citi Group and Barclays, among others.
CHOOSING THE CHAMPIONS
The insights and methodology behind the BT-KPMG India's Best Banks and NBFCs Survey 2023-24.
'INDIA IS AT AN EXTREMELY SWEET SPOT'
The jury members of the BT-KPMG Survey of India's Best Banks and NBFCs discuss developments in the banking sector and more
FROM CRISIS TO TRIUMPH
Dinesh Kumar Khara stewarded SBI through multiple challenges during his tenure, while ensuring that profits tripled, productivity soared, and the bank consolidated its global standing
AT A CROSSROADS
BANKS ARE FACING CHALLENGES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALANCE SHEET-ASSETS AS WELL AS LIABILITIES-WHICH ARE PUTTING PRESSURE ON MARGINS.
EXPANSIVE VISION
Bajaj Finance, an outlier in terms of digitisation, faces stiff competition. But it continues to expand its reach
