About Sairam Santharam - Global cybersecurity executive

Global Cybersecurity Executive

SAIRAM SANTHARAM

As a seasoned executive with over 25 years experience in information & cybersecurity, technology operations, risk management, and compliance, Sairam Santharam is an award-winning professional who gets things done. A multi-faceted professional, he has held positions in top global companies such as CISO (BISO), COO, Associate Partner, and Global & Regional Head of Technology Operations..

As a professional, Sairam has worked and lived in the US, Mexico, Hong Kong, Oman, India, and Dhaka, among other places. Leading multi-million dollar budgets for financial organisations is something he has extensive experience doing.

Through his ability to fuel comprehensive enterprise-wide strategies and transform initiatives, Sairam engages and inspires geographies dispersed teams while upskilling talent and achieving results.

25+ Years Of
Experience

As an information and cyber security leader, he has led the teams in defining, developing, and maintaining an operating model and strategy that aligns with business requirements. Provide direction on developing and implementing measures and metrics for assessment, reporting, and ongoing improvement of cyber security postures as a principal.

Besides consulting on cyber security threats and countermeasures, Sairam also helps organizations address these challenges.

A key part of Sairam's responsibility is to work closely with the regulators to ensure compliance with internal, external, and regulatory audits related to enterprise information security frameworks, legislation, regulation and legislation, and compliance with legislation.

Sairam has been instrumental in reducing organization-wide risk and increasing audit compliance through the implementation of robust vulnerability remediation processes, industry frameworks, governance, and reporting standards within HSBC Enterprise Services in his previous roles.

Provided leadership and direction to a customer-focused compliance and risk function within Enterprise Services.

He has achieved numerous industry certifications, including CCSP - Certified Cloud Security Professional (ISC2), CEH - Certified Ethical Hacker - EC Council, CMSC - Certified Metaverse Security Consultant - IMI, CSM (Scrum Alliance) - Certified Scrum Master (Scrum Alliance), ITIL - Service Management, CFAI - Cyber Forensics & Advanced Incident Investigation, response, CBE - Certified Blockchain Expert, CCE - Certified Cryptocurrency Expert.

Besides consulting on cyber security threats and countermeasures, Sairam also helps organizations address these challenges.

Numerous honors and awards have been given to him, including the Platinum Award & Inclusion into HSBC Hall of Fame. He has also been honoured with the Best Cost Innovation award, the Best Process/Service Quality Improvement award, the Critical Infrastructure Stability award, and the Take IT to the Bank award..

In addition to his passion for cyber security, he speaks regularly at the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) on AI and machine learning. In addition to speaking at various forums related to cyber security, he is also an industry master class speaker.

A leading expert in cybersecurity management, technology, and operations, Sairam has coached a number of senior executives. Besides speaking on other topics at Hong Kong Baptist University, he has also presented at other universities.

With his family, Sairam currently resides in Bangalore. As a community service, Sairam promotes cyber awareness among elderly to prevent cyber fraud.

References

Sairam is a highly talented international IT professional, who is as comfortable in a Boardroom setting, as he is in a deep technical team. He is a true gentleman and a pleasure to work with. I have no reservation in recommending him to any organization.

Simon Taylor

CIO | CTO | CISO | Global IT & Information Security Executive

Sairam used to work for me when he was Chief Operating Officer, HSBC Bangladesh. Sairam did a wonderful job and even in a short period transformed both the morale and the delivery of his teams. Sairam was well regarded by his local peers and CEO, and forged great working relationships with the Regional Delivery teams. I will always be grateful to Sairam for his work in Bangladesh and he helped me a lot to stabilise the situation we had there.

Peter Clark

Group Chief Operating Officer at DOHA BANK

Sairam was "discovered" and fast tracked relatively early in his career with HSBC because of his obvious talents and accomplishments while I was managing the captive digital services company — HSBC.com. I then had the privilege and the pleasure of observing Sairam grow and blossom professionally from 2004 as an individual contributor and then onwards in progressively more senior management roles in the USA, in Asia and in Latin America. As a Program Manager or CISO or a country COO, I knew that I can always count on him to deliver superior results and to motivate both his peers and the teams he was leading to perform better and to continually improve. Sairam is a cross-cultural executive who effectively engages and motivates diverse teams while continually building talent and driving execution.

Sairam is also an excellent relationship manager and a great presenter to the highest levels in the corporation such as the HSBC main board and the C-suite. The most notable example of that was a series of compelling boardroom presentations to help secure funding for several Innovative financial products.

Eli Sinyak

Group General Manager, Regional COO (LATAM/ASIA PAC/Americas) @ HSBC - Retd

Sairam is a very capable individual who worked with me at HSBC.com. Not only was he highly skilled technically, he was a team player who was a delight to work with. I know he was well respected by his team mates for his problem solving and technical know how and he could always be counted on to get the job done. I highly recommend him.

Tracy Redies

Chief Executive Officer at Science World British Columbia, Ex CEO of HSBC.com

Sairam and I worked together in Mexico, where Sairam led a key workstream seeking to identify inefficiency in our IT estate. Sai's diligent focus on detail, core knowledge of IT and highly personable manner enabled us to delve into the detail of our cost base to simplify and streamline our infrastructure, driving down our operating costs. Sairam's leadership was critical to our success.

Lewis Wilson

MD, Office of the Group CEO @ HSBC

Sairam worked for me whilst in Mexico. Sairam led a programme to identify cost inefficiencies within the IT infrastructure and to streamline working practices. These initiatives led to over USD 55m in sustainable cost savings. Sairam has a broad IT knowledge coupled with a tenacious and personable nature which enables him not only to identify key initiatives but also encourage others to be as equally focussed. Sairam knows how to get the best from everyone whilst maintaining a critical eye for detail. Sairam is excellent at managing upwards, ensuring that he was given sufficient support for me whilst at the same time I knew that he was totally in control of the programme.

Phil Tottie FBCS

CIO

About Me