GIRI MUTHUKRISHNAN
CIO at Xforria Global Technologies
Can you please provide a little introduction about yourself
I am Giri Muthukrishnan. the enterprise CIO for Xforia Technology Solutions, a US-based global IT services and staffing firm, catering to clients across domains and countries. I am responsible for expanding the business, streamlining technology services by building better value for our clients and partners, managing IT services from Infrastructure and application development and making our cybersecurity product best-in-class. My role also entails building successful partnerships with niche solution providers. While NJ is my second home, my family and I have lived in many parts of the world to call us true global citizens.
What has your journey to your position been like? What path have you taken?
I grew up in India where I did my undergrad in engineering and did my MBA at Rutgers School of Business, NJ. My kids often joke and say, “Why did you study engineering to work at a bank?” But when I introspect, engineering really shaped my perspective to look at the best solution for a problem, ignited my curiosity, shaped my analytical acumen, and laid the foundation for my career in technology.
I spent more than a decade in global technology consulting, working across Asia, Europe, and the US. After leading tech transformation at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for several years, moved to India to lead Program/Product management and innovation at BNY Mellon and then joined JPMorgan to lead operations and change for Asia and Europe. Moved to JPMC US in public sector payments product prior to taking up the CIO role at Xforia.
Having led operations, business and product, my strong belief is that technology is a key lever in driving business success and leaders need to leverage it effectively to create value for clients and their own organizations. In my role as the CIO of an IT services firm, I bear responsibility for building the synergy between technology and business, to ensure we provide the best staff and services to our clients and promote efficient strategy formulation and execution.
Has it always been your vision to reach the position you’re at? Was your current role part of your vision to become a tech leader?
Not quite. I was never super aggressive in my career and always wanted to balance work and family. But, having done global roles that involved leading teams across cultures, and having led mission-critical transformations, I always strived to remain a techno-functional leader.
As I played cross-functional roles in my career, my drive for leading technological innovation and focusing on outcome-based success only continued to grow. Now, as the Global CIO for Xforia, I can bring that passion to life by leading a team of talented professionals and leveraging technology to create value for our clients across the globe.
Having worked in diverse domains like financial services, aeronautics, telecom, insurance, and IT services has given me the opportunity to make a meaningful impact to Xforia’s clients and to continue pursuing my love for solving business problems with technology.
Have you had a role model or mentor that has helped you on your journey? (If you feel comfortable, please share their name and how they helped you)
Even though I played the mentor role and made a difference to lot of people. Having said that, several people inspired me, shaped my career and my leadership personality. When my first boss asked me to quit in the politest possible way, I learnt the courage to move on if my heart and soul is not in the job. Next, my boss at the NY Federal Reserve showed me how to strongly back my team, especially during adversity. Next, my boss at JPMC India made me lead something brand new that was totally outside my comfort zone, dispelling the fear of change. There are many other leaders who inspired me and instilled in me the confidence to effectively deliver major projects for clients, the ability to build deep trusted partnerships, and the ability to lead with empathy, humility, fairness, and calmness.
How do you see the role of the technology leader evolving over the next 5 years?
I believe the role of the CIO is becoming more strategic for the business and IT. The rapidly changing technology landscape is making the role of a CIO extremely critical in bringing the best value for clients. “Future-proof” is turning out to be a myth and technology leaders need to be nimble enough to adapt and adopt. For services companies like us, that foresight and nimbleness is critical for our success and the success of our clients.
A significant change that I expect for the CIO is an increased focus on AI, digitalization, regulatory needs, and security. As our clients continue to adopt new technologies such as cloud, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT), the CIO will play a critical role in driving innovation and ensuring these technologies seamlessly integrate into our overall services strategy in the safest solution possible.
The CIO's expertise will be invaluable in identifying new opportunities and ensuring that the company stays ahead of the competition. This will require CIOs to collaborate even more closely with the industry and with other executives to identify new business opportunities to drive growth.
What skills do you think leaders of the future will need in order to thrive?
In my opinion, all leaders, irrespective of future or current, will require a blend of technical expertise, business acumen and soft skills to excel in an increasingly complex, rapid, and dynamic world with the uncanny ability to adapt to change. Being in IT Services now, my primary focus is always on people, with technology playing an enabler role. Key traits that I feel critical are:- Emotional Intelligence: Being empathetic, culturally aware, respectful, and creating unbiased workplace are key to building strong teams.
- Tech savviness: While no one can ignore the impact of AI, GenAI etc., we cannot take our eye off “real intelligence” too. Innovation, game changer products, problem-solving, transformation – all of these come from real intelligence of human beings.
- Being nimble and humble: ability to adapt to new technologies and humility to accept that learning is lifelong.
- Strong communication and listening skills: The ability to communicate ideas clearly and effectively and the ability to actively listen and understand the perspectives of others.
How do you keep current with new skills, technologies and personal development?
My mantra is – I cannot and do not know everything. When I applied for a tech role 15 years back, there were 7-8 areas I had to know. Today, every resume has almost 40-50 acronyms. !! So, I focus on what I need for the role and what I need for having meaningful conversations with my clients. I read about a plethora of topics from current tech trends like GenAI, Cybersecurity, ESG, digital, and cloud transformation. I also read a lot about what is happening in the industry, like real-time payments, embedded banking, blockchain etc. I also attempt to attend industry conferences where I can learn about leadership trends, diversity, mentorship and how new generation staff impact workspace demographics and dynamics. Above all, I stick to my mantra and I am never afraid or ashamed to say “I don’t know..”
What do you see as the next leap in technology that will impact your business or industry in particular?
I don’t have a crystal ball to predict what the next blockbuster technology breakthrough would be. But the last 5 years have showed us that the obsolescence period is rapidly shrinking. The areas I mentioned earlier including AI, cyber, data and digital are sure to disrupt in a large way by enabling new technologies in diverse areas like autonomous vehicles, advisory, smart homes, and personalized medicine.
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Quantum computing are expected to continue to advance, leading to more sophisticated and smart systems that can process and analyze vast amounts of data with higher speed and accuracy, better supply chain, and increased cryptography, making them increasingly valuable for businesses in a wide range of industries.
Internet of Things: Connected devices is so pervasive with things like automobiles, to heating systems to payments. There is certainly a sense of ubiquity and fear, of course in terms of privacy guidelines !!!
"Leaders are only as effective as their ability to build and maintain strong relationships..."
If you were mentoring a leader of the future, what advice or guidance would you give to help them on their way?
The advice would be the same as what I mentioned earlier. My key leadership traits are empathy, humility, adaptability, and an open mind to learn and listen diverse viewpoints.
Personal development is a very key area for any leader. I have seen many aspiring leaders undermine the value of learning because they feel they have already reached a certain stage in their career. Development includes training sessions, conferences, seeking feedback, and self-reflection.
Leaders are only as effective as their ability to build and maintain strong relationships with their teams and stakeholders. So, invest in building these relationships, to be approachable, genuine, and open to feedback.
Overall, my advice to aspiring leaders would be to focus on personal development, build strong relationships, communicate effectively, foster a culture of innovation, lead by example, embrace diversity, be adaptable and resilient.
Is there anything in particular that you would still like to achieve in your career or what is the next step on your journey?
Frankly, I never “aspired” for any of the roles I held in my career. They just happened, of course with efforts and toil from me. So, I don’t constantly go crazy over the next step in my career. In my career so far, I have not been into mainstream business development or sales and my current role fills that void. But I want to play a bigger part in mentorship, giving back to folks who are aspiring to grow and building women leaders.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
I certainly cannot stop wars or genocides or terrorism. In people around me, I try to instill a sense of environmental consciousness. I try to practice that responsibility because citizens have the power to change things, while we always blame and wait for the governments to fix things. Also, affordable healthcare and education is still a dream in many countries. My wife and I have a company called Live Give, where we want to live and give back to society. We hope to make some positive impact to the society and community through that.
A big thank you to Giri Muthukrishnan from Xforria Global Technologies for sharing his journey to date.
If you would like to gain more perspective from Tech Leaders and CIOs you can read some of our other interviews here.
December 11, 2024