Pioneers in Internal Audit: The Leading 40 Heads of Internal Audit to Watch in 2024.

Internal auditors play a crucial role in ensuring financial integrity and operational efficiency. This article spotlights the emerging heads of internal audit in India, who are at the forefront of risk management and corporate governance.

1. Sathyananda Prabhu (Head of Internal Audit, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank): Sathyananda Prabhu brings over four decades of extensive experience in auditing and corporate governance. Prabhu oversees the internal audit processes to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and improve operational efficiency.
2. Anantha Raman R (President and Head of Group Internal Audit, Kotak Mahindra Bank): With 32 years of experience, Anantha Raman R leads the audit team in evaluating and enhancing the bank’s internal control systems, identifying potential risks, and ensuring the effectiveness of corporate governance practices.
3. Vaman Shenoy (Head of Internal Audit, HDFC Securities): Vaman Shenoy, with 29 years of experience, plays a crucial role in assessing the company’s internal control mechanisms and compliance with regulatory requirements, safeguarding the company’s assets and ensuring the reliability of financial reporting.
4. Alagarsamy AP (Head of Internal Audit, Toyota Financial Services India): With three decades of experience, Alagarsamy AP conducts comprehensive audits and reviews of the company’s operations, focusing on enhancing process efficiency and mitigating risks.
5. Rajagopalan Ranganathan (Head of Internal Audit, RBL Bank): Rajagopalan Ranganathan, with 35 years of auditing experience, oversees audit functions to maintain strong internal controls and ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks.
6. Nirupam Das (Vice President and Head of Internal Audit, Reliance Industries Limited): With 29 years of experience, Nirupam Das ensures the company’s internal controls and risk management systems are robust and effective through comprehensive audits and compliance checks.
7. Sivaram Subramoniam (Head of Internal Audit, Titan Company Limited): Sivaram Subramoniam leads the Internal Audit team with 30 years of experience, evaluating internal controls and risk management frameworks to ensure operational efficiency and compliance.
8. Vijay Mohan Bs (Head of Internal Audit, Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait): With 28 years of expertise, Vijay Mohan Bs conducts detailed audits of financial records and internal processes, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and enhancing risk management strategies.
9. Prabhakar Mukhopadhyay (Head of Internal Audit, Adani Group): With 29 years of auditing experience, Prabhakar Mukhopadhyay leads audit activities across the organization, identifying potential risks, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
10. Parag Deodhar (Managing Director of Internal Audit, Accenture): Parag Deodhar, with 22 years of experience, oversees audit functions, assessing risk management, and improving internal controls to ensure adherence to global standards of corporate governance and financial reporting.
11. Pawan Bansal (Head of Internal Audit, Credit Saison India): With 21 years of experience, Pawan Bansal audits financial records, evaluates risk management systems, and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements.
12. Sujata Singh (Head of Internal Audit, GSK): Sujata Singh leads the Internal Audit team with 20 years of experience, conducting thorough audits of internal processes, ensuring compliance with industry regulations, and identifying areas for improvement.
13. Anirban Ghosh (Head of Internal Audit, United Breweries Ltd.): With 22 years of experience, Anirban Ghosh oversees the audit functions, ensuring effective internal controls and risk management through detailed assessments of operational processes.
14. Anuj Mathur (Head of Internal Audit, DP World): Anuj Mathur, with 26 years of experience, leads the audit team, assessing internal controls, and ensuring compliance with global standards to maintain robust financial practices and mitigate operational risks.
15. Raghuraman Ranganathan (Head of Internal Audit, Wipro Limited): With 21 years of experience, Raghuraman Ranganathan oversees audit activities, ensuring the effectiveness of internal controls, and compliance with regulatory frameworks.
16. Varkey Chacko (Head of Internal Audit, Tata Elxsi): Varkey Chacko, with over two decades of experience, evaluates the company’s internal processes and risk management systems to ensure compliance with industry standards.
17. Giridhari Behera (Head of Internal Audit, Bajaj Finance Limited): With 21 years of expertise, Giridhari Behera conducts detailed audits of microfinance operations, assessing risks, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
18. Shovik Sen (Head of Internal Audit, Jumbo Electronics Company Limited (LLC)): With 22 years of experience, Shovik Sen oversees the audit processes, ensuring that internal controls are effective and risks are managed.
19. Jyothi Bhatta (Head of Internal Audit, PhonePe): With 19 years of experience, Jyothi Bhatta evaluates the company’s internal controls, risk management, and compliance with regulatory standards.
20. Deepak Parashar (Head of Internal Audit, CarDekho): With 17 years of experience, Deepak Parashar leads the audit team in assessing internal processes, managing risks, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
21. Ghanshyam Baheti (SVP & Head – Internal Audit, Lendingkart): With 17 years of experience, Ghanshyam oversees risk management strategies, ensures regulatory compliance, and implements robust internal controls, maintaining Lendingkart’s reputation for transparency and reliability.
22. Debadideb Roy (Head of Internal Audit, Schaeffler India Limited): With 21 years of experience, Debadideb evaluates the company’s financial and operational processes, identifying areas for improvement, and ensuring adherence to local and international standards.
23. Bharat Garg (Head of Internal Audit – India, Fidelity International): With over two decades of experience, Bharat plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the integrity of Fidelity’s investment management processes and ensuring compliance with complex regulatory frameworks.
24. Rahul Wakhle (Head of Internal Audit, Experian India): With 19 years of experience, Rahul Wakhle oversees Experian’s surveillance and risk management practices, ensuring the accuracy and security of sensitive financial information.
25. Pankaj Agarwal (Head of Internal Audit, Jakson Group): With experience at Aditya Birla and Jindal Steel, Pankaj enhances Jakson’s operational efficiency by overseeing audit processes and financial accounting.
26. Saiprasad Venkateswaran (Head of Internal Audit, Sutherland): With over 15 years of experience, Saiprasad evaluates the effectiveness of Sutherland’s internal controls across its international operations.
27. Mithun Dasgupta (Vice President & Head – Internal Audit & Control, CASHe): With 18 years of experience, Mithun oversees the development and implementation of robust internal control systems, ensuring the integrity of financial transactions and compliance with regulatory requirements.
28. Harshita Mulay-Dixit (Head of Internal Audit, Home First Finance Company (HFFC)): With 15 years of experience, Harshita ensures compliance with housing finance regulations and implements risk management strategies.
29. Deepak Shetty (Director – Head of Internal Audit, MUFG): With 16 years of auditing experience, Deepak evaluates MUFG’s complex banking operations, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
30. Deepu Thankachan (Head of Internal Audit, Muthoot Homefin Limited): With 15 years of experience, Deepu oversees the evaluation of loan disbursement processes, ensuring compliance with housing finance regulations.
31. Purav Gala (Head of Internal Audit, HIL Limited): With 17 years of experience, Purav evaluates the efficiency of manufacturing processes and ensures compliance with quality standards.
32. Satish Narang (Managing Director & Head of Internal Audit – India, Goldman Sachs): With 15 years of experience, Satish oversees the evaluation of complex financial transactions, ensuring compliance with global regulatory standards.
33. Pulkit Maheshwari (Head of Internal Audit, Hinduja Housing Finance): With significant experience in finance and auditing, Pulkit ensures compliance with housing finance regulations and implements risk management strategies.
34. Sandeep Mudhalwadkar (Head of Internal Audit, Kirloskar Brothers Limited): With 16 years of experience, Sandeep ensures compliance with quality standards and implements risk management strategies across KBL’s global operations.
35. Deepti Nagpal (Head of Internal Audit, Luminous Power Technologies (Schneider Electric)): With 15 years of experience, Deepti evaluates manufacturing processes and ensures compliance with quality standards.
36. Jagruti Kapadane (Head of Internal Audit and Internal Controls – India, Sanofi): With 14 years of experience, Jagruti oversees complex financial planning, ensures compliance with stringent regulatory requirements, and implements risk management strategies.
37. Sanjeev Tulsyan (Head of Internal Audit, TATA Capital Housing Finance Ltd): With 15 years of experience, Sanjeev ensures compliance with housing finance regulations and implements risk management strategies.
38. Anurag Krishna (Head of Internal Audit – India, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company): With 14 years of experience, Anurag oversees the evaluation of manufacturing processes and ensures compliance with quality standards.
39. CA Sahil Jain (Head of Internal Audit, Mount Meru Group): With significant experience in finance and auditing, Sahil evaluates business processes across the group’s diverse portfolio, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
40. Hitesh Soni (Head of Internal Audit – India, Pernod Ricard): With 14 years of experience, Hitesh ensures compliance with industry standards and implements risk management strategies across Pernod Ricard’s operations.

These leaders exemplify excellence in internal audit, ensuring robust governance and risk management practices within their organizations.

Disclaimer: The selection process for candidates in this news article involves rigorous evaluation by researchers, considering parameters such as industry influence, online reputation, experience, contributions, education, accolades, and followership. However, subjective criteria may lead to outcome variations, and assessments may not capture every aspect of candidates’ profiles. Selection as winners does not imply endorsement or guaranteeing future performance. Feedback is welcomed for process enhancement as we continuously strive to improve our evaluation methods.

This article is written by Mahesh Kumar Singh, Research and Analytical Manager with IST