'ICICI is CEO-making factory' trends on internet as Anup Saha, Anup Bagchi named MD-CEO of Kotak Mahindra, HDFC Bank
Anup Saha has been appointed CEO and MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank for a three-year term starting 1 January. He succeeds Ashok Vaswani. Anup Bagchi is set to become the next CEO and MD of HDFC Bank. He succeeds Sashidhar Jagdishan.
The phrase ‘ICICI is a CEO-making factory’ is trending on social media as two former ICICI executives were named to lead major private lenders. On Thursday, Anup Kumar Saha was named MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, while Anup Bagchi will take charge as HDFC Bank’s MD & CEO.
Some of the phrases that are currently viral on the internet are: ‘Manufacturers of CEOs and CIOs for MF industry’, ‘ICICI Bank is truly a CEO-making factory!’, ‘ICICI Bank — Truly a CEO-Making Factory!’
Even Harsh Goenka, Chairperson of the RPG Group, joined the party, saying, “ICICI is becoming a strong leadership factory.”
And there is some solid basis for the internet chatter. If you look at the records, several bankers who previously worked at ICICI Bank have gone on to lead some of the biggest financial institutions in India.
ICICI Bank executives who moved to top roles
Shikha Sharma — She served as the Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank from 2009 to 2018
V Vaidyanathan — Currently serving as the Managing Director and CEO of IDFC Bank
Madhabi Puri Buch — Former Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
Nilesh Shah – Currently Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company
Rajiv Sabharwal — Currently serving as the Managing Director and CEO of Tata Capital
Sonjoy Chatterjee — Currently serving as Chairman and CEO at Goldman Sachs India Securities
Kalpana Morparia — Former chairperson of South & South East Asia JPMorgan
Renuka Ramnath — Founder, MD and CEO at Multiples
Zarin Daruwala — Former CEO at Standard Chartered Bank, India. She retired this year
Vishakha Mulye — Currently serving as Managing Director and CEO at Aditya Birla Capital
All about two Anups
Anup Bagchi is set to become the next CEO and MD of HDFC Bank, with the Reserve Bank clearing his name to lead the largest private sector lender on Thursday.
Bagchi, 55, succeeds Sashidhar Jagdishan, who decided in August not to seek reappointment after his second three-year term ends on 26 October, triggering an unplanned and accelerated succession process.
He had been serving as MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance since 2023 and served as executive director of ICICI Bank for six years. Before that, he was overseeing both retail and wholesale banking.
Anup Saha has been appointed CEO and MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank after India’s banking regulator approved his appointment.
Saha has been appointed for a three-year term starting from 1 January, the Mumbai-based lender said in an exchange filing on Thursday. He will succeed Ashok Vaswani, who is stepping down for personal reasons at the end of his three-year term on 31 December.
He has over three decades of experience, including 25 years spanning banks and non-banking financial institutions. He had a 14-year stint at ICICI Bank, where he led some retail verticals.
Apart from their names and previous association with ICICI, the two executives share another common link: they are IIT-IIM alumni.
About the Author
Sanchari Ghosh is an Assistant Editor at Mint with over 12 years of experience in journalism, specialising in personal finance, DLT & DeFi, geopolitics and foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on how these areas intersect. <br> She writes extensively about how money works in everyday life—helping readers navigate personal finance decisions. <br> As AI reshapes investing behaviour, capital is increasingly flowing into decentralized ecosystems, redefining how assets are managed, traded, and valued. She focuses on explaining how money flows within frameworks like Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), DeFi protocols, and crypto markets—while also exploring what the future of money could look like in a trustless, programmable financial world. <br> She also focuses on immigration-related issues, simplifying complex topics around visas, passports, overseas financial planning, and the many practical challenges Indians face while moving or living abroad. <br> Alongside personal finance, Sanchari has a strong understanding of international politics, contemporary and historical conflicts, and global state decisions. She closely tracks how geopolitical developments influence economies, markets, and individual financial choices, bringing together finance and global affairs in her reporting. <br> She began her career as a desk editor, which gave her a strong foundation in news writing. Over time, her interest naturally shifted toward personal finance. Before joining Mint in 2020, she worked DNA, The Times of India, Outlook Money, BloombergQuint, and ETMoney. At Mint, she got an opportunity to expand her coverage to include immigration and geopolitical developments while continuing to closely follow personal finance trends and market movements.As a journalist, she is committed to accuracy, intellectual rigour, and fairness. <br> She is an English Major and her work took her across cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune. Living independently from an early age gave her firsthand experience in managing life and money on her own. This practical exposure sparked her strong interest in personal finance. <br> Outside the newsroom, Sanchari is a sports enthusiast who regularly plays lawn tennis and squash. In her younger years, she was also a national-level badminton player.
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