We’re bringing together trailblazers across financial services to accelerate AI adoption, influence policy, and shape the future of our industry. This is your opportunity to join an elite group of AI and financial professionals within one of America’s most respected organizations.
Be part of the movement. Be part of the revolution!
Director
EY
155 N Wacker Dr #200
Chicago, IL 60606
224-523-2878
anibanerji@gmail.com
Aniruddha Banerjee is a Manager of Insurance Technology at EY (Ernst & Young) with 14+ years of experience driving digital transformation, AI innovation, and Agentic AI solutions across Fortune 500 P&C insurers. He leads cross-functional teams of 20+ professionals in delivering complex, multi-million dollar Guidewire enterprise implementations. Guidewire Ace Certified in PolicyCenter, Aniruddha has deep expertise in Underwriting Management across diverse commercial and personal lines including General Liability, Commercial Umbrella, Excess Liability, Commercial Property, Workers' Compensation, Ocean Marine, Inland Marine, and Commercial Auto. He holds a Master's in IT & Management from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.
Aniruddha's work demonstrates measurable impact through AI/ML integration, achieving 40% reduction in underwriting cycle times, 60% improvement in property valuation efficiency, and $2.5M+ in annual operational savings. His leadership extends beyond technical delivery—he was retained as 1 of only 2 team members on a $50M+ implementation facing termination, successfully transforming it into an 8-month contract extension and earning an Ethical Leadership Award. He has created reusable implementation frameworks now adopted as EY firm-wide standards and led development of high-volume cloud-native applications serving 5,000+ users with zero downtime. Aniruddha is an active member of NAIFA Chicagoland, IEEE, IET, BCS, and CPCU Society and continues to advance his professional credentials in insurance technology and risk management.
Director
The Capital Markets Company
141 W Jackson Blvd Suite 2100
Chicago, IL 60604
925-364-1295
basusouma@gmail.com
Souma Basu is a trusted leader in the financial services and insurance sector, dedicated to advancing the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence across insurance advisory and banking ecosystems. With a proven record of guiding complex transformation programs, he shapes technology strategy in ways that balance innovation with regulatory, ethical, and client-centric standards.
Souma is known for turning emerging technologies into practical, scalable solutions that empower advisors and elevate the client experience. His work spans digital modernization, data enablement, and enterprise AI strategy.
Colleagues and partners consistently value Souma’s steady leadership, collaborative style, and strategic insight. He brings together technical fluency and business acumen to ensure AI initiatives drive sustainable growth, strengthen compliance and risk frameworks, and preserve the human relationships at the heart of the profession.
As a thoughtful voice on the future of AI, Souma champions innovation that is ethical, transparent, and aligned with the real needs of advisors, clients, and the broader financial services community.
Director
Ernst & Young
Dallas, TX
312-785-4477
Srinath is a seasoned technology leader with over 18 years of experience in insurance technology transformation. Srinath specialized in modernizing legacy systems and implementing innovative InsurTech solutions for Fortune 50 Insurance carriers. Srinath's expertise in Guidewire, cloud-native architectures, AI-driven models has enabled him to lead multi-million dollar insurance transformation projects including Tier-1 & Tier-2 insurers to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience. He holds a Master’s in Computer Science, awarded fellowship in IETE and Fellow BCS, a senior IEEE member and member of Forbes Technology Council. Recognized for his strategic vision and leadership, Srinath is a trusted advisor in the insurance industry, committed to driving results and fostering innovation.
Director
Smart Energy Systems (sew.ai)
2130 Hassell Rd, Unit 307
Hoffman Estates, IL 60169
504.208.8407
Debmalya Ghosh (Dev) is a seasoned business consultant with over 15 years of global experience leading digital transformation initiatives across sectors. His expertise lies in aligning technology, operations, and customer experience to deliver scalable, measurable outcomes. Debmalya has held leadership roles at PwC, Tech Mahindra—a global $6.5B consulting and technology services firm—and multiple product organizations, including a leading AI company, where he has driven innovation at the intersection of technology and business strategy.
He has advised Fortune 500 clients on integrating automation, AI, and digital tools into core business processes to enhance service delivery, reduce inefficiencies, and improve customer engagement. Debmalya brings a strong track record of cross-functional leadership, process redesign, and client-focused delivery across complex, high-impact initiatives.
Director
EY
155 N Wacker Dr #2000
Chicago, IL 60606
850-449-3679
itsak005@gmail.com
Anshul Kaushik is a global technology leader whose career has been defined by bold,
enterprise-scale transformation across the life insurance, retirement, and annuities
industries. At EY, Anshul drives innovation in technology, data, and AI products, helping
organizations harness trusted data, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence to
transform at scale — unlocking new avenues of growth and resilience.
Throughout his career, Anshul has led sweeping modernization programs that have
redefined how insurers and financial institutions operate. His initiatives include:
Modernizing core life policy administration systems through AI-driven automation
Re-engineering underwriting and claims with NLP-enabled capabilities
Migrating retirement and annuity platforms onto modern cloud ecosystems infused
with predictive analytics and insights.
With deep expertise in data management, governance, and commercialization, Anshul
has built AI-ready data foundations that balance innovation with privacy, security, and
regulatory integrity. Widely recognized as an influential voice in the global data and AI
community, Anshul’s work demonstrates how disciplined execution and next-generation
technologies can help life insurers and retirement providers not just navigate
complexity — but emerge stronger, more resilient, and future-ready.
Director
Akuna Capital
2963 Francis Ct
Aurora, IL 60503
312-927-5917
anokhkishore@gmail.com
Anokh Kishore is a Senior Software Engineer at Akuna Capital, a leading options market maker, where he develops the firm’s ultra-low-latency market data platform powering real-time trading decisions. With over 14 years of experience across C++ systems engineering, distributed infrastructure, and applied AI, he specializes in building high-performance data systems that deliver intelligence at microsecond scale.
Before joining Akuna, Anokh worked at Microsoft, where he led initiatives in distributed systems and network automation within Azure — his services were part of the decision-making pipeline driving billions of dollars in network optimization and capacity planning. Earlier in his career, he contributed to Citadel and Chicago Trading Company (CTC), developing performance-critical trading infrastructure used in live production environments.
Anokh is passionate about scalable architecture design, intelligent automation, and the intersection of AI and low-latency systems — blending deep technical execution with data-driven strategy to push the boundaries of performance, reliability, and intelligence.
Director
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
One N Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL 60606
312-802-9178
Pankaj Pant is a technology leader with more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry. At PwC, he leads global teams that help insurers modernize their data, reporting, and core systems, with a focus on making operations more efficient and future-ready. His work encompasses data modernization, cloud transformation, and advanced analytics, particularly within the Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance sector.
He earned his Master’s degree in Data Science from Northwestern University, with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence. This gives him a unique ability to help clients identify real-world Generative AI opportunities—utilizing automation and innovative data solutions to reduce manual work, accelerate system conversions, and enhance decision-making.
Outside of work, Pankaj enjoys writing and sharing his research on how data and technology can improve insurance and safety. He is an active member of NAIFA Dallas, DAMA Houston, and IEEE, and he continually seeks opportunities to give back to both the professional and local communities.
Karthik Parvathinathan brings over 18 years of extensive industry experience in Quality Assurance, delivering high-impact programs across multiple industry domains. He has a proven track record of leading and executing Quality Assurance and Quality Engineering initiatives for complex, large-scale system transformations and digitalization programs, with deep specialization in the insurance domain.
Over the course of his career, Karthik has successfully progressed through a wide range of roles, beginning as a QA Analyst and advancing through positions such as Module Lead, Project Manager, and Digital Transformation Delivery Manager. This end-to-end career journey has equipped him with a strong blend of hands-on technical expertise, leadership capability, and strategic delivery oversight.
Currently, he leads the Quality Engineering function for major insurance digital transformation initiatives, partnering with leading insurance clients across the country to ensure delivery excellence, compliance, and scalable quality frameworks.
Karthik is an Engineering graduate and holds several prestigious professional affiliations, including Membership in the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Fellowship in the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Senior Membership in IEEE, and Professional Membership in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He is an active contributor to the global engineering and research community, regularly participating in IEEE conference journal reviews and serving as a judge for multiple international technical and innovation competitions.
Director
American Express
1119 W Beck Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85032
602-586-8937
Kaleeswara Srikanth Vathabi Varanan (goes by Srikanth Varanan) is a Technical Project Manager with American Express, specializing in Information Security and enterprise-scale Data Protection initiatives. He currently leads complex programs within the InfoSec domain, partnering closely with senior architects, engineering teams, and business stakeholders to design and deliver highly secure platforms that protect sensitive data across large, distributed environments.
His work focuses on modern cryptographic systems and key management strategies, including multiple flavors of cryptology such as encryption, tokenization, key lifecycle management, and secure API frameworks. Srikanth Varanan plays a critical role in ensuring regulatory compliance, strengthening security architecture, and driving adoption of industry-standard and emerging cryptographic technologies across mission-critical systems.
With a strong background in program governance, risk management, and cross-functional execution, he brings a disciplined, detail-oriented approach to solving complex security challenges. Beyond his technical leadership, Srikanth Varanan is passionate about mentoring, collaboration, and contributing to professional communities that promote innovation, ethics, and excellence in financial services.
Copyright © 2020 NAIFA-Chicagoland
124 W Lake St
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
Phone: 630-443-3333
naifachicagoland@gmail.com
