By: IPP Bureau
Last updated : August 19, 2026 10:55 am
In his previous roles as CBO and Executive Vice President, Karunakaran built the company’s Payer business, led its platform and AI strategy, and oversaw P&L and go-to-market initiatives
Shyam Manoj Karunakaran has been elevated to President at CitiusTech, taking on a broader leadership mandate spanning the company’s business operations and strategic growth.
In his new role, he will focus on strengthening CitiusTech’s payer business, advancing its platform and AI capabilities, and driving AI-led transformation across healthcare.
Karunakaran previously served as Chief Business Officer and Executive Vice President at CitiusTech, where he built the company’s Payer business, led its platform and AI strategy, and oversaw P&L and go-to-market initiatives.
He joined CitiusTech during its startup phase and has been part of its leadership journey for more than 17 years. During this period, he helped scale the company across its early markets and subsequently built the Payer business from the ground up into one of CitiusTech’s largest verticals, serving major health plan organisations across interoperability, data, cloud and AI.
He also leads PERFORM+, CitiusTech’s proprietary AI-enabled clinical quality and value-based care platform and a flagship intellectual property investment.
Karunakaran has also been involved in three private equity transactions during his tenure at CitiusTech — General Atlantic in 2015, Baring Private Equity Asia/EQT in 2019, when CitiusTech became one of the first 25 Indian unicorns, and Bain Capital in 2022 at a valuation of approximately $2.4 billion.
Before joining CitiusTech, Karunakaran spent nearly a decade at Infosys. He holds a degree in biomedical engineering and is also a published photographer, with work featured in Better Photography, and an early-stage investor focused on disruptive technologies.