Santander UK appoints Rakshit Kapoor as chief data officer

Kapoor brings over 20 years’ experience in senior IT and data roles to Santander UK, and will oversee development of the company’s data strategy, organisation, operating model, technology and governance.

The new appointment’s duties will include leading the creation of a data and analytics centre of excellence, which looks to bring together multiple disciplines from across the bank into a single team.

As head of data transformation for Europe, Kapoor will work closely with fellow European chief data officers at the company to harmonise approaches to data and analytics across Europe, helping the region to reuse business services, share innovation and operate more efficiently.

For his UK chief data officer role, Kapoor will report to Santander UK COO Iain Plunkett, and for his European position, to global head of new models & data unit, Cristina San Jose.

Most recently, Kapoor served as group chief data officer at HSBC, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of the bank’s group-wide data and analytics strategy.

Prior to this, he held roles at US insurance company Travelers, where he was global CIO for data, analytics, and AI/Robotic Process Automation, as well as at JP Morgan, where he was managing director for data management and analytics.

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“I am very excited to be joining Santander, a digital leader in the banking sector,” said Kapoor. “I am really looking forward to being part of its ongoing transformation and joining such a talented international team.”

Tony Prestedge, deputy CEO at Santander UK, commented: “I am very pleased that Rakshit will be joining the team. Harnessing the power of data to improve our products and services for customers will be critical in delivering our ambition to be a digital bank with a human touch.

“Rakshit’s experience and expertise will be a huge asset as we develop our data strategy and put data-driven insight at the heart of our decision-making.”

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Aaron Hurst

Aaron Hurst is Information Age's senior reporter, providing news and features around the hottest trends across the tech industry.