Anup Bagchi has been appointed as the new CEO of HDFC Bank, the bank said in an exchange filing on Thursday. After more than three decades with the ICICI Group, Bagchi will begin a new chapter at HDFC Bank after Sashidhar Jagdishan’s exit.
Bagchi, currently MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, is an engineer by training and has led businesses serving individual savers, market investors and corporate clients.
From engineering to financial services
Bagchi graduated in chemical engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1990 and subsequently earned a management degree from IIM Bangalore, according to IIT Kanpur’s alumni profile. He joined the ICICI Group in 1992, beginning a career that would take him through retail banking, corporate banking and treasury.
In 2023, IIT Kanpur recognised him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award, according to the institute’s profile, more than three decades after his graduation. A major step came in May 2011, when he became managing director and CEO of ICICI Securities. He had previously been an executive director at the company.
The bank credited him with developing businesses spanning retail and institutional broking, wealth management, distribution of financial products and corporate finance. It also identified technology as an important part of Bagchi’s work, citing his role in developing ICICIdirect’s online trading platform and ICICI Bank’s internet banking platform.
The bank also credited him with expanding its retail liabilities and third-party product distribution businesses, giving him experience in gathering customer funds as well as distributing investment and other financial products.
In 2016, ICICI Bank announced that Bagchi would take charge of retail banking from November 1. His appointment as an executive director was scheduled for February 2017. The move brought him from the group’s securities business into a broader banking role.
The move into life insurance
A seasoned financial services leader, Bagchi has over three decades of experience across banking, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. He has built a diverse career spanning treasury, retail banking, wholesale banking, investment banking, and digital financial services.
Over the course of his career, he has held several pivotal leadership positions, including CEO & MD of ICICI Securities, Executive Director of ICICI Bank, and currently MD & CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
Bagchi took over as ICICI Prudential Life’s MD and CEO on June 19, 2023.
The transition included an earlier stint as executive director and chief operating officer from May 1, 2023. The board had proposed a five-year term as MD and CEO, the filing showed.
At the company’s July 2023 annual general meeting, Bagchi acknowledged predecessor NS Kannan’s contribution and outlined an approach centred on understanding customers before designing products.
He told shareholders that “the general approach will be to study and understand our customer needs”. His remarks connected product development with changing requirements for protection, retirement planning and long-term savings.
Technology remained part of that approach. At the same meeting, he discussed using artificial intelligence and machine learning in customer onboarding, underwriting, risk management and service. He also emphasised assessing new technologies by the problems they could solve for customers.
Under his leadership, the company achieved a milestone FY2025 by crossing ₹10,000 crore in Annualised Premium Equivalent (APE)—up 15% year-on-year to ₹10,407 crore—while profit after tax surged nearly 40% to ₹1,189 crore. Driven by his focus on sustainable, profitable expansion, the business also delivered strong growth in protection products and new business generation.
Experience beyond executive roles
Bagchi has also participated in discussions on financial regulation and market development. IIT Kanpur’s profile records his service on the RBI’s expert committee on micro, small and medium enterprises and SEBI committees dealing with financial technology, risk management and fair market conduct.
It also lists roles with FICCI’s capital markets committee, the National Securities Depository and BSE’s advisory committee. These assignments extended his work beyond individual companies to questions affecting borrowers, investors and the wider financial system.