Avanse Financial Services, an education-focused non-banking financial company (NBFC), has appointed Anila Rajneesh as its Chief People Officer (CPO), effective October 2026. She’ll be based at the company’s Mumbai head office and lead its human resources function. She’ll also oversee Avanse’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework.
Rajneesh has more than 25 years of experience in HR, organisational development and cultural transformation, largely in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.
Career background
Rajneesh joins from Fedbank Financial Services Ltd. (Fedfina), where she spent nearly eight years. Before that, she held senior leadership roles at:
- Fino Payments Bank
- CIMB
- HDFC Securities
Her work has covered HR transformation, organisational development, talent development, employee engagement and technology-enabled HR practices.
The mandate
At Avanse, Rajneesh will focus on employee-centric policies and talent management. Her remit includes building high-performing teams and talent pipelines, and bringing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities and workforce analytics into the company’s HR frameworks. On the CSR side, she’ll work on aligning community programmes with Avanse’s environmental and sustainability commitments.
“We are delighted to welcome Anila to our leadership team. Her extensive experience across leading financial institutions positions her to drive business transformation through people, culture, and technology.”
Amit Gainda, Managing Director and CEO, Avanse Financial Services
Gainda added: “At Avanse, people-centricity remains at the core of our strategy. As an organisation, we will always focus on fostering a symbiotic environment for our employees that enhances their learning curve, resulting in ‘Return on Intelligence’ while enabling ‘Return on Capital’ for stakeholders.”
He also said the company is “confident that Anila’s leadership will empower us to bring innovative perspectives and strategies to boost our HR function with a focus on growth, diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
