In an era where financial institutions must rapidly modernize to stay competitive, few leaders stand out as strategic change-makers like Balaji Conda Shankar. A seasoned technology executive with over 20 years of global experience, Balaji currently serves as Associate Vice President at a leading global IT services company, where he drives high-impact digital transformation and modernization programs for Fortune 500 financial institutions.
Driving End-to-End Modernization at Scale
Balaji is at the forefront of one of the largest digital overhauls in the global financial services sector—a comprehensive modernization program transforming a 40-year-old legacy ecosystem spanning over 260 applications. Under his leadership, the initiative is leveraging cutting-edge practices such as:
- Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC)
- Low-code/No-code accelerators
- Microservices and API-first architecture
- Developer enablement tooling for accelerated onboarding
These efforts have yielded millions in cost savings, while dramatically improving agility, operational resilience, and time-to-market for client onboarding and service delivery.
Leadership Across Modernization Tracks
Leading a team of over 100+ architects, engineers, and technologists, Balaji ensures cross-functional excellence across several major business units. His work spans strategy, agile delivery, resource management, and governance—ensuring modernization efforts remain aligned with enterprise objectives and are delivered on time and within budget.
Expertise Rooted in Real-World Delivery
Balaji’s deep expertise in cloud transformation, enterprise data analytics, DevOps, and platform engineering makes him a trusted advisor to CIOs and transformation leaders across global financial services, telecom, and supply chain enterprises. His hands-on technical knowledge spans technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, Java, OBIEE, Hyperion, OFSAA, and Informatica.
Notable Career Highlights:
- Portfolio leadership exceeding $50M across global banking and capital markets
- Over 100 legacy applications modernized as part of a major Fortune 100 merger integration
- Previously oversaw 250+ enterprise applications at a top global IT services provider, servicing leading financial, healthcare, and investment firms
- Delivered multi-million dollar cost savings through intelligent automation and platform reengineering
- Championed multi-cloud strategies, data warehousing modernization, and ETL optimization initiatives
A Visionary in Financial Systems Integration
Balaji brings a rare blend of technical depth and business strategy, with domain mastery in digital core modernization, agile governance, and cloud-native enterprise transformation. His ability to bridge IT strategy with business outcomes continues to drive scalable, secure, and client-centric solutions across Fortune 500 enterprises.
Academic and Professional Recognition
Balaji holds a Master’s in Computer Applications and has been honored with multiple awards for excellence in delivery, innovation, and leadership. His commitment to mentoring engineering talent and building future-ready teams has created a lasting impact across the digital transformation landscape.
Powering the Future of Finance with Scalable Innovation
As the financial services industry embraces real-time platforms, intelligent automation, and secure digital workflows, Balaji Conda Shankar is leading the charge. His work in transforming legacy systems into modern digital platforms is not only elevating enterprise IT—it’s helping shape how global institutions innovate, compete, and thrive in the digital age.