BS People: N Kamakodi

The youngest chief executive of the Indian banking industry is not like the usual bankers. For starters, N Kamakodi, the 37-year-old managing director and chief executive of City Union Bank, has a penchant for Tamil literature and classical carnatic music.

Becoming a banker was nowhere on his mind when he graduated as a chemical engineer from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, in 1995. In fact, he began his career as an assistant manager with Reliance Industries’ Hazira plant near Surat in Gujarat.

However, banking was in his blood. His father V Narayanan was the chairman of City Union Bank till his death in a road accident.

“It was during my MBA programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong that I got the opportunity to enter the banking sector,” Kamakodi says.

Known for his never-say-die attitude, Kamakodi is credited with expanding the bank’s operations beyond South India. The bank currently has a network of 250 branches and 251 automated teller machines across the country.

The bank was shifting its business on the core banking platform when Kamakodi joined it. He was part of the team that had been assigned the role to understand clients’ psychology and perception about online banking. To excel in his duties, he got a PhD in e-banking from Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy.

Does the meteoric rise to his present position bring additional pressure? “It is business as usual for me. I have been part of the bank’s senior management team for 5-6 years. So there is no additional pressure. Everything has happened by God’s grace, by default,” he says.

He has set a target of 30-35 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the bank over the next five years and is confident of achieving it without any difficulty.

“We fine-tuned our operations. This lifted our CAGR to around 30 per cent in the last five years. Earlier, it was 15-20 per cent. My aim is to sustain this growth momentum,” Kamakodi says.