Sameer Ratolikar has been promoted to Group Head & Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at HDFC Bank, marking an important milestone in his exceptional cybersecurity leadership journey.
With over 27 years of expertise in information security, risk management, and governance, Sameer has significantly contributed to strengthening cybersecurity maturity across India’s banking ecosystem. He has been associated with HDFC Bank for more than a decade, serving as Senior Vice President & CISO and later as Senior Executive Vice President & CISO, where he led enterprise-wide security strategies, cyber-resilience programs, and regulatory compliance efforts.
Before joining HDFC Bank, Sameer held key leadership roles at major financial institutions:
• CISO, Axis Bank – led the bank’s security strategy, threat intelligence initiatives, and compliance modernization efforts.
• Global Head – Information Security, CTO & Head–BCP, Bank of India – pioneered several industry-first initiatives, including ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, and Business Continuity certifications; established a 24×7 Security Operations Centre; developed risk management frameworks; and implemented advanced security controls across the organization.
• Principal Systems Analyst – Security & Networking, National Informatics Centre (NIC) – supported application security and system architecture for major e-governance projects for the Government of Gujarat.
Throughout his career, Sameer has been recognized for building strong security architectures, enhancing enterprise-wide cyber governance, managing extensive security operations, and establishing resilient frameworks for risk, compliance, and business continuity. His elevation to Group Head & CISO highlights HDFC Bank’s commitment to further strengthening cyber resilience in an increasingly complex digital environment.
