Varun K

Strategic AI Governance executive with 24+ years in enterprise risk, compliance, and technology transformation.

Currently Global

Director – Responsible AI, Risk & Governance at HCLTech, leading Responsible AI and AI Governance across APAC (ANZ, Singapore, Japan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.) and EMEA (Dubai, Austria, Netherlands etc.) for a $300M+ portfolio in previous roles within the company. AIGP-certified (IAPP), with deep expertise in the EU AI Act, ISO 42001, and NIST AI RMF. Proven track record of building governance frameworks, red-teaming programs, and commercial Responsible AI service offerings from the ground up.

Trusted advisor to C-suite and board-level stakeholders on AI risk, regulatory alignment, and trustworthy AI adoption across IT, telecom, banking, and healthcare sectors.

Global Director – Responsible AI, Risk & Governance at HCL TECHNOLOGIES (2020-06 – Present)

• Own Responsible AI and GenAI transformation strategy across APAC (ANZ, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India etc.) & EMEA (Dubai, Austria, Netherlands etc.), reporting to VP and senior regional leadership, spanning pre-sales, sales, consultancy, and delivery for a $3M+ portfolio
• Established the Office of Responsible AI & Governance and operationalized a 2-year RAI maturity roadmap, aligning APAC delivery with EMEA/North America regulatory standards including EU AI Act and ISO 42001
• Designed and implemented Responsible AI governance frameworks across 20+ enterprise AI models for 12+ Fortune 500 clients, achieving ~90% compliance with EU AI Act, ISO 42001, and NIST AI RMF
• Embedded AI risk and governance controls across the 5-phase GenAI SDLC (Discovery through Post-Production), cutting regulatory audit findings by ~70%
• Engineered governance frameworks for autonomous/agentic AI systems, implementing real-time guardrails for high-stakes API calls and automated transactions
• Built Red Teaming standards based on OWASP Top 10 for LLMs, defending against prompt injection, data poisoning, and model inversion attacks
• Launched 6 sellable Responsible AI service offerings (maturity assessment, ISO 42001 implementation, red teaming, policy development, user adoption & change management), generating $3M+ in new revenue
• Partnered with AI governance platforms (IBM Watsonx.governance, Credo AI, Disseqt AI) to audit and assure enterprise client AI models
• Lead a global risk and governance team of 25+ professionals across information security, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and business continuity, spanning three continents
• Serve as senior advisor in C-level pre-sales pursuits and lead client presentations for large GenAI deals

General Manager – Risk & Fulfilment at HUAWEI TELECOMMUNICATIONS (2014-04 – 2019-12)

• Directed risk mitigation for 200+ global technology agreements valued at $1B+, as primary SPOC across delivery, finance, legal, and solution teams
• Standardized contract and compliance processes, reducing penalty incidents by 60% and maintaining ISO 27001 compliance with zero critical data breaches
• Resolved 50+ org-level conflicts, improving customer satisfaction scores from 65% to 90%
• Avoided a $50M in potential penalties through structured negotiation and risk control
• Served as global risk and compliance SPOC across offices in multiple countries, advising on regulatory, data security, and contractual obligations

Regional Supply & Contract Manager (IMEA) at NOKIA INDIA (2010-08 – 2014-04)

• Managed $50M+ in global IT contracts with strategic suppliers (HP, Xerox, HCL) across India, the Middle East, and Africa
• Converted underperforming IT service contracts from a $2M annual loss to a 25% profit margin within 10 months
• Improved supplier SLA adherence from 72% to 86% through structured governance and audit interventions
• Built a risk management framework to identify, analyze, and mitigate critical contract risks

Delivery Project Executive at IBM GLOBAL SERVICES (2004-06 – 2010-07)

• Owned P&L for North American IT infrastructure and ITES delivery programs valued at $300M+, managing teams of 150–200+ staff
• Delivered a Six Sigma Black Belt program improving First Call Resolution from 72% to 89% and cutting cycle time by ~30%
• Served as IBM Certified Internal Quality Auditor across CRM and Finance & Accounting projects, driving remediation of identified risks
• Led ISO 27001 audits through to organizational certification

Quality Assurance Associate at FirstRing India Pvt. Ltd. (2001-06 – 2004-06)

• Operational audits, risk assessments, and KPI monitoring in a BPO delivery environment

Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration in Operations Management – Symbiosis University

Bachelor of Business Administration in BBA – Madurai Kamaraj University