In an exclusive interaction with Express Computer, Guru Thiagarajan, Head of India Technology Centre and CIO for People, Procurement and Legal at Deutsche Bank, explains how the bank’s largest global technology hub is co-piloting transformation across cloud, AI, and platform engineering. From leading the largest finance-related SAP S/4 HANA migration in global banking to creating AI-powered platforms like dbTextract, the India Technology Centre has moved far beyond a traditional capability model to become an IP-driven innovation powerhouse. With a strong culture of continuous learning, regulatory compliance, and cross-border collaboration, Thiagarajan outlines his vision for India as a global innovation leader shaping the bank’s future.
India has become central to Deutsche Bank’s tech evolution. Could you elaborate on how the India Technology Centre is co-piloting the bank’s transformation journey and what sets it apart from traditional global capability centres?
Deutsche Bank has a number of Technology Centres across the world, with India being the largest. With teams across Pune, Bangalore, and Mumbai, the Centre is a vital part of the Technology, Data and Innovation function, which plays a critical role in the bank’s transformation.
The India Technology Centre is trusted and empowered to lead end-to-end product development. This evolution has happened over time as we have strengthened our engineering expertise, successfully taken on more complex tasks, and functions across the bank have built up a presence here so we can work together as a unified team. Our teams in India are embedded in global squads, co-owning platforms and driving innovation across domains—from investment banking to corporate functions.
With the India Tech Centre playing a significant role in Deutsche Bank’s global operations, what have been some landmark achievements in terms of product delivery, platform innovation, or business-critical transformations led from India?
The India Technology Centre has delivered several high-impact initiatives that reflect our growing leadership in global transformation.
A standout example is the India Data Localisation Project, where our teams led the migration of global payment platforms to comply with RBI regulations. An effort critical to maintaining our license to operate in India. This complex, cross-functional project showcased our ability to deliver critical regulatory requirements.
We also developed dbTextract, an AI-powered document processing platform that uses OCR and generative AI to automate workflows across onboarding and compliance. Built in India, it has significantly improved operational efficiency and is fully compliant with data protection standards.
Another milestone is the cloud migration of our SAP S/4 HANA finance platforms, one of the largest of its kind in global banking. This move modernised 17 core systems, improved performance by up to 50%, and reduced recovery times from six hours to just 20 minutes—laying the foundation for future innovations like daily close and real-time forecasting.
Cloud-first transformation has become a key pillar of Deutsche Bank’s technology strategy. Can you walk us through some of the major cloud migrations executed by your India teams, such as the SAP S/4 HANA general ledger and the impact these have had on performance, scalability, and sustainability?
The cloud-first strategy at Deutsche Bank is not just about infrastructure, it’s about unlocking agility, resilience, and innovation. We’ve adopted a multi-cloud approach, with strategic partnerships.
A standout example is the migration of our SAP S/4 HANA finance platforms, led entirely from our India Technology Centres. This involved transitioning 17 SAP systems, including our strategic general ledger, group books and records, and planning and forecasting, to Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It was the largest finance-related SAP migration to GCP in the global banking sector.
The impact has been transformative. System recovery times dropped from six hours to just 20 minutes, and performance benchmarks improved dramatically. This migration also laid the foundation for rapid scaling—what used to take months can now be achieved in days. With S/4 HANA now live, we’ve established a standardised SAP platform design that enables further migrations, including SAP BW and BSC/BPC.
Beyond infrastructure, our India teams have also developed cloud-native applications like the Corporate Bank’s Frontier Finance solution. This platform integrates directly with clients’ enterprise systems via APIs, enabling seamless invoice submission and payment processing. These innovations are not only enhancing operational efficiency but also contributing to sustainability by reducing physical server dependency and energy consumption.
AI and generative AI are reshaping banking infrastructure and client experiences globally. What are some real-world applications of AI and GenAI that your teams in India have developed or deployed? How is the bank ensuring regulatory compliance and explainability in these initiatives?
AI and GenAI are central to our innovation agenda, and India is helping to lead the charge. Our teams have developed AI-powered solutions for fraud detection, trade surveillance, and client onboarding. For instance, our eKYC platform, powered by Google Cloud, automates manual tasks and has reduced paperwork by 30%.
We are also exploring GenAI for internal productivity tools, such as summarising documents and generating code snippets. Compliance and explainability are non-negotiable. We embed governance frameworks into every AI initiative, ensuring transparency, auditability, and alignment with global regulatory standards. Our AI models are trained with fairness and bias mitigation protocols, and we maintain rigorous oversight through our risk and compliance teams.
The India Tech Centre is not just a delivery engine; it’s also an IP-creating innovation hub. Can you share examples where the Centre has led end-to-end development of global platforms in areas like contextual banking, risk analytics, or compensation management?
Absolutely. One of our proudest achievements is the development of contextual banking platforms that personalise client experiences using real-time data. These platforms, built entirely in India, are now deployed globally and are helping us reimagine client engagement.
In risk analytics, our teams have built predictive models that support decision-making across trading and lending. We’ve also developed compensation management tools that bring transparency and efficiency to HR operations. These platforms are not just used internally—they are shaping how Deutsche Bank delivers value to clients and employees worldwide.
People and culture seem to be a key differentiator in your leadership philosophy. How do initiatives like dbGuru, the 40-hour learning mandate, and the global hackathon foster engineering excellence and innovation among your India-based teams?
Culture is the bedrock of our success. Initiatives like dbGuru promote peer-to-peer learning and create a vibrant knowledge-sharing ecosystem. The 40-hour learning mandate ensures that every technologist is continuously upskilling, with access to curated learning paths in cloud, AI, and GenAI.
Our participation in global hackathons has been phenomenal. In the last few years, India teams have been among the top finalists, showcasing solutions that addressed social causes such as financial inclusion using GenAI and cloud-native architectures.
These programs foster a culture of experimentation, collaboration, and excellence—qualities that are essential for innovation.
As someone who has worn multiple hats across operations, transformation, and technology, what is your long-term vision for India’s role in Deutsche Bank’s technology leadership? Where do you see the next frontier of innovation coming from?
India will continue to be a cornerstone of Deutsche Bank’s technology strategy. My vision is to ensure India is seen as a global innovation powerhouse. We are already leading in areas like cloud, AI, and platform engineering.
As we look ahead, the next wave of innovation will be driven by smarter, more adaptive technologies that help us serve clients better, operate more efficiently, and stay ahead of evolving market needs. We’re investing in talent, infrastructure, and partnerships to stay future-ready, and we’re committed to building solutions that are not only technologically advanced but also meaningful and impactful for the communities we serve.