Leadership

Sankar Chakraborti
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer

Sankar joined Acuite in 2014 and since then leading Acuite’s transformation from a full-service credit rating agency to a technology and innovation driven knowledge company. Sankar has almost three decades of experience in data, analytics, risk management, credit ratings, and financial research. Prior to joining Acuité, Sankar worked in the research and ratings divisions of CRISIL Limited and was seconded to S&P in Tokyo.

Sankar is a founding member and former Chairman of the Association of Indian Rating Agencies. He is also the Chairman of SMERA Ratings Private Limited and was responsible for pioneering ESG Ratings in India by setting up ESGRisk.ai.

In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Sankar has served as an Independent Director on the Board of Indian Oil Corporation and was a member of the Working Group constituted by the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India for recommending the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. He is a member of FICCI's Capital Markets Committee and the Executive Committee of Maharashtra State Council. He also serves on IBA's Standing Committee on MSMEs.

Sankar holds a Master's degree in Business Management and a Bachelor's degree with Physics honours. Outside of work, Sankar enjoys travelling and photography, and has a passion for reading about science, psychology, and the economic history of India.

Antony Jose
Chief Rating Officer

As the Chief Rating Officer, Antony is responsible for governance processes and adherence to extant regulatory guidelines. He is in charge of rating committees, quality of rating execution process and investor outreach. Antony has an overall work-experience of over two decades, spanning roles in Business Development, Rating Operations, and Regulatory Compliance. Prior to Acuité, he worked with CRISIL, and ed-tech start-ups like iDiscoveri Education. He is a Post Graduate in Business Management from SPJIMR, Mumbai.


Antony likes to read, watch movies and swim.

Hitesh Khona
Chief Financial Officer

Hitesh heads the Finance function for Acuite group. Hitesh is a Chartered Accountant with 16 years of experience spanning into finance & accounting, corporate strategy & planning, taxation, fund raising & banking operations. He has been associated with various organizations in the Real Estate, Automobile Manufacturing, IT and Pharmaceutical sectors.

Hitesh likes travelling, playing cricket, photography & listening to music.

Reshma Polasa
Vice President – Process Excellence & Head of Technology

Reshma Polasa leads the IT and Process Excellence functions at Acuité. She is leading the digital transformation of Acuité by re-engineering various processes to achieve greater efficiency and better quality. With over a decade of experience, Reshma has seen practically every function of a rating agency. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management from Mumbai University and a Post Graduate Certificate in Business Management from IIM – Calcutta.

Reshma loves to dance, travel to new places, and explore good food.

Chitra Mohan
Vice President – Compliance & Group Company Secretary

Chitra Mohan has been with Acuité since its inception in 2005. An associate member of the ICSI, she has over two decades of experience in the field of secretarial, legal and corporate compliance. Apart from being a Key Managerial Personnel, she is primarily responsible for overseeing and managing corporate and statutory compliance matters as well as internal policies and procedures.

Her hobbies include reading, listening to music and travelling.



Mr. Santosh Kumar Mohanty, Chairman

Mr. Mohanty has over two decades of dedicated experience in the financial services and regulatory space, with notable stints at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and FMC. He played a pivotal role in regulating Commodity Derivatives and overseeing the primary and secondary equity markets, as well as other facets of corporate finance. Mr Mohanty was also an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officer in the Income Tax Department.

Mr. Mohanty has served on several high-profile committees, including a Government of India-appointed Expert Committee on the integration of commodity spot & derivatives markets. He also led a Working Group on developing a regulated warehousing ecosystem. He holds a Master’s degree in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, a law degree from Mumbai University and a PG Diploma in Securities Laws from Mumbai University. 

Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director

Dr. Arvind Gupta is the Head and Co-founder of Digital India Foundation, a policy think tank working in the areas of technology policy, digital inclusion, ethics of AI, supply-chain security, and governance of critical and emerging technologies. Dr. Gupta has almost three decades of industry experience in consumer internet, digital media, payment systems, analytics, and data economy, in senior leadership levels of policy and entrepreneurial profiles in India and Silicon Valley, USA. He has been on the Global FinTech Top 100 list of Influencers and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Digital Economy & Society, and an OECD Expert Member of Global Value Chains. Dr. Gupta has a postgraduate degree in Computer Science and Business Administration (Finance & Marketing) from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from IIT-BHU, Varanasi. He also pursued an Executive Fellow Programme in Management (DBA) from the Indian School of Business. 

Mr. Saurabh Shah, Director

Mr. Saurabh Shah currently leads the Finance function in Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India Private Limited as Director – Finance. He has been with Dun & Bradstreet for more than 7 years, having worked in India, the UK and the US in senior positions. Saurabh has over 15 years of financial expertise and has played a key role in implementing various internal and external financial projects, as well as streamlining the finance function in the various organizations that he has been associated with till date. Saurabh is a qualified Chartered Accountant (India) and a Certified Public Accountant (USA). 

Mr. Julian Prower, Director

Mr. Julian Prower is currently Dun & Bradstreet's International Chief Operating Officer (COO). He also serves as the chairman of the D&B UK, and India boards. He has around four decades of experience and has held positions of increasing leadership responsibility in technology, country leadership, human resources, and business operations, often requiring International and Global mobility. 

Mr. N S Venkatesh, Independent Director

Mr. Venkatesh presently holds the position of CEO of Bharat InvITs Association, a non-profit organisation established under the guidance of SEBI to promote and advance Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) in India. He has over three decades of experience in the banking sector including over two decades in managing Treasury and International Banking. He has worked across Finance, Risk Management, Information Technology, Accounting Standards, Audit & Assurance, Bank Taxation along with Bank Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions and Turnaround of Banks. He was associated as Executive Director with Lakshmi Vilas Bank, held several senior positions including Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Executive Director at Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) for over 19 years. He is also former Chief Executive of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). Mr. Venkatesh is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a graduate in Science from Kerala University.  He holds Diploma in Management & Financial Services and is also a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB), Indian Institute of Banking and Finance. 

Mr. Hiren Shah, Independent Director

Mr. Hiren Shah is a technopreneur and currently leads Net Square Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a niche and highly regarded information security consulting company, as President & Mentor. Before Net Square, Mr. Shah, was with CRISIL and spearheaded the complete transformation of the technology function to become a business partner as the Chief Information Officer. He uses his deep understanding of the BFSI sector and expertise in IT Infrastructure, Business Solutions and Information Security to advise Boards of companies in Banking, Telecom, Healthcare, E-commerce, Utilities and other emerging sectors on IT Governance, Cyber security and Innovation. Mr. Shah graduated as a Physics and Electronics major from Mumbai University and then qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He is also a CISA and CGEIT.

Ms. Priti Sridhar, Independent Director

Priti Sridhar is CEO at the Mariwala Health Initiative (MHI) which is the personal philanthropy of Harsh Mariwala, Chairman Marico. MHI is a grant making, capacity building & advocacy organisation with a focus on mental health. Priti leads MHI's rights-based work and oversees project management, grant management and advocacy initiatives. She has almost 25 years of work experience in both for profit and not for profit organizations. Priti has worked extensively in Finance, Strategy and HR and is passionate about women's rights, mental health, and child rights. She aims to combine these experiences with her interests in rights- based mental health work to spotlight and support organizations and leaders focused on community-based interventions. Priti is an alumnus of TISS and XLRI and has trained in Transactional Analysis for 5 years. 

Mr. Sankar Chakraborti, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer

Sankar joined Acuite in 2014 and since then leading Acuite’s transformation from a full-service credit rating agency to a technology and innovation driven knowledge company. Sankar has almost three decades of experience in data, analytics, risk management, credit ratings, and financial research. Prior to joining Acuité, Sankar worked in the research and ratings divisions of CRISIL Limited and was seconded to S&P in Tokyo.

Sankar is a founding member and former Chairman of the Association of Indian Rating Agencies. He is also the Chairman of SMERA Ratings Private Limited and was responsible for pioneering ESG Ratings in India by setting up ESGRisk.ai.

In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Sankar has served as an Independent Director on the Board of Indian Oil Corporation and was a member of the Working Group constituted by the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India for recommending the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. He is a member of FICCI's Capital Markets Committee and the Executive Committee of Maharashtra State Council. He also serves on IBA's Standing Committee on MSMEs.

Sankar holds a Master's degree in Business Management and a Bachelor's degree with Physics honours. Outside of work, Sankar enjoys travelling and photography, and has a passion for reading about science, psychology, and the economic history of India.

Board Committees