Gopi Krishnan


Gopi Krishnan "Krish" is an Indian-origin technologist.
As of 2018, he is the Chief Disruption Officer at GEMS Education, one of the world's largest private educators based out of Dubai, UAE.
Krish has also been a vocal advocate for the banking sector to be early adopters or fast-followers of digital technology as “a mindset of continual learning and innovation” rather than as a project.

Life and career

Krish was born and raised in Ambasamudram in Tamil Nadu. An interest in basic programming took the alumnus of St Xavier's College, Palayamkottai, from his degree in General Science to an advanced diploma in Technology and Information Systems and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Business from the Indian Institute of Modern Management. Over two decades of an international career, Krish went on to bring significant positive impact through technology in Fortune 500 organizations like Citigroup and Fidelity Investments. In 2016 he told Computer News ME that his early career made him aware that the Western world was more aware of the benefits IT could bring businesses, but that the Middle Eastern business community is catching up to the West.

Middle-East Banking Career

In 2006, Krish took up management roles in the First Gulf Bank and implemented enterprise-wide changes in processes, program governance and change management. Krish told Computer News ME that over the period, business satisfaction levels on IT rose significantly to 86 percent. This was followed by a two-year project in a senior position at BankMuscat International where major transformations took place in data centers, IT systems, CRM, trading platform, core banking and other areas.

iCAN Project

In 2012 Krish joined Qatar Islamic Bank as group Chief Information Officer, where he spearheaded the bank-wide iCAN program with the aim of replacing the bank’s 15 year old infrastructure with new core banking platforms, greater automation of operational processes etc. Deloitte and Temenos were contributing partners in the project, and together helped bring business satisfaction levels on IT significantly to 86 percent. QIB acknowledged Krish’s contribution towards growth and improvement, which led to the revision and updation of existing IT policies, creation of new IT processes under the ITIL Best Practices Framework, comprehensive CSA risk management exercises along with proper tracking and logging of internal and external audits, RCA and IT incident reports, among other changes.

Al Hilal Bank Vision 2020

In 2016–2017, he served as the Chief Information Officer/ Chief Digital Officer of the Al Hilal Bank in UAE. In his position as the leader of the bank's Vision 2020 IT & Digital Strategy, he spearheaded a transformation drive to connect banking digital channels with FinTech to further the institution's goals to become one of the most technologically advanced institutions in the region.

Disruption in Education

As Chief Disruption Officer of the GEMS Education group, Krish is spearheading a 5-year phased plan to introduce 50 initiatives across the categories of education innovation, customer experience, technology standardization, process improvements, and data and analytics. According to him, "...education is no different from other industries – it's either disrupt or be disrupted." Krish explains the value-addition this new C-suite role can bring to an organization, in an interview for the Wall Street Journal:
CDOs can help fill leadership gaps, manage conflicts between business lines and the technology organization, and find equilibrium between disruptive imperatives and process transformation. By seeking solutions that can alter the entire industry landscape, CDOs allow the company to disrupt rather than be disrupted. They constantly pursue technology breakthroughs and help the organization adopt a culture that promotes disruption. Giving disruption a home in the C-suite can help organizations prioritize it, integrate it into existing business strategies and scale the disruption process.

Krish's approach to disruptive transformations in education institutions is customer-centric, as he explains at his DIGITRANS 2018 speech:
We are living in an era where customers shape strategies not the corporates.  It is absolutely critical to know your customers well and to build end to end customer journeys incorporating the products / services through frictionless channel experience. Customer experience is not only about your external customers but also about your employees and stakeholders.

While technology is the core of a disruption plan, Krish says "Investing in the right people and honing their skills to meet the challenges ahead is crucial, as are optimized and automated processes that allow us to make the best use of available resources. The right balance of people, processes, technology, and innovative product and service offerings is critical..."

Awards and recognition

2015
As reported in the February 2016 issue of the Computer News Middle East magazine, Krish was named as one of the best CIOs of the MENA region for 2015, being the only CIO from Qatar’s banking industry to receive the honor.

2016

He was awarded the CIO of the year award at the MEFTECH Innovation Awards. The award was a recognition of his career with Qatar Islamic Bank, where he played a leadership role in taking a bank-wide transformation project live on its second attempt and bringing about core banking changes and legacy systems. He was also shortlisted for the Tech Leadership Award at the Banking Technology Awards for that year.
Also that year, Krish received the CIO of the Year Award at the MEFTECH Innovation Awards held in Abu Dhabi, for his leadership roles, improvement and growth contributions as a senior executive in the innovations achieved by QIB as a MENA-based institution.

2017

At the Enterprise Channels MEA-hosted Catalyst Award, 2017, Krish was one of the leaders recognized for his disruptive role in the region.
He was also named "Chief Digital Officer of the year across all GCC Nations" at the CDO Conclave Event in Dubai, UAE.

2018

Krish was awarded the title of Digital Disruptive Leader at DIGITRANS 2018 by Khaleej Times and MIT Sloane Management Review following his work with GEMS "to challenge the status quo and to bring disruptive innovation in education and across the enterprise.
He also won the "Digital Disruptor of the Year" at CDO Conclave 2018.