- Dr. Shabnam Sinha to become Airtel Payments Bank chairperson from October 1, 2026
- She will succeed Sunil Bharti Mittal, who steps down on September 30, 2026
- Sinha has 30+ years of experience, including 15 years at the World Bank
Airtel Payments Bank is set for a leadership transition, with Dr. Shabnam Sinha, an independent director and former World Bank Lead Specialist, set to take over as chairperson from October 1, 2026, subject to Reserve Bank of India approval.
Sinha will succeed Sunil Bharti Mittal, who will step down as non-executive chairman and leave the bank's board on September 30, ending a tenure that began in April 2016.
With more than three decades of international experience, Sinha has worked across corporate governance, enterprise risk, financial oversight, banking, development finance, public policy and digital transformation.
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Sinha spent 15 years at the World Bank, serving as Lead Specialist from 2010 to 2025. During her tenure, she led governance, fiduciary oversight and enterprise risk management for advisory services and sovereign lending portfolios worth approximately $4 billion across Asia, Europe & Central Asia and Africa.
Her work included strengthening governance frameworks for complex sovereign investment programmes and designing enterprise risk management systems. She also worked on blended finance initiatives, mobilising sovereign, philanthropic and private capital.
Sinha developed Alternative Investment Fund structures supporting women-led MSMEs and conceptualised the Women's Livelihood Bond to expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs.
Her experience also extends to technology and AI. At the World Bank, she led AI-enabled transformation initiatives using machine learning, geospatial technologies and big data, including support for the Government of India's AI-powered Skill India Digital Hub.
Before joining the World Bank, Sinha served as CEO of IL&FS Education & Technology Services from 2007 to 2010, where she handled P&L, strategy, financial management, organisational transformation, regulatory compliance and public-private partnerships.
She previously worked as a Senior Program Advisor at USAID and spent more than a decade with the Government of India and NCERT, working on policy, institutional reform, financial oversight and human capital development.
Sinha currently serves on the boards of Airtel Payments Bank, Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd., Vedanta Iron & Steel Ltd., Sesa Mining Corporation Ltd. and Sesa Resources Ltd.
At Airtel Payments Bank, she chairs the Special Committee on Monitoring Frauds and is a member of the Risk Management and Information Technology committees. Her board expertise spans audit, risk, technology, fraud oversight, ESG, stakeholder governance, nomination and remuneration and human capital.
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Sinha's appointment comes as Airtel Payments Bank continues to expand its digital banking and financial inclusion footprint.
The bank said it now has more than 121 million monthly active users and nearly 30 million bank account customers, with more than 500,000 banking points across the country. Mittal said he was confident that Sinha would build on the bank's foundation and strengthen its position in digital banking.
Sinha said her focus would be on sustaining growth, expanding financial inclusion and increasing the bank's impact across customers and communities.
Her academic and professional credentials include a Ph.D., M.Ed. and M.A., along with programmes from Harvard Business School, Oxford University and the University of Geneva. She is also a Certified Independent Director from the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs.
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