Senthil Kumar Balasubramaniam : Driving Purposeful Innovation & Digital Transformation Across Industries
Senthil Kumar Balasubramaniam
CTIO
With a global career spanning over three decades across telecommunications, fintech, IT, and media, Senthil is leading Lyca’s digital strategy and transformation across key business divisions including MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), MNO (Mobile Network Operator), fintech, media, entertainment, travel, and healthcare. Senthil’s strategic vision is to unify Lyca’s digital assets into a secure, AI-driven ecosystem, enabling real-time personalization, cloudnative agility, and customer-centric product orchestration across telecom, fintech, and media.
Under Senthil’s leadership, Lyca Group is delivering significant enterprise value through technology-led innovation. He is driving an AI-powered trans- formation across Lyca’s mobile business, where millions of global subscribers benefit from advanced segmentation, sentiment analytics and real time product recommendations. The company now leverages AI and machine learning for fraud detection, predictive insights and automation across the value chain, improving both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Prior to Lyca Group, Senthil held key leadership positions in several global organizations. As Head of Digital Products & Platforms at Eutelsat OneWeb, he laid the digital foundation for global LEO satellite connectivity. As Chief Information Officer (CIO) – B2B at Bharti Airtel, he led enterprise transformation programs in a multi-billion-dollar telecom ecosystem, influencing operations that served over 400 million customers.
He launched India’s first TDD and FDD LTE networks, implemented blockchain-based spam control systems, modernized OSS/BSS stacks, and enabled cloud-first strategies for enterprise clients. Senthil’s technology leadership journey began at the unique opportunity of working on both network and IT technologies, where he worked on encryption, interception technologies, and secure telecom networks, building a strong technology foundations of IT and Telecommunications.
Senthil’s academic credentials in Electronics and Communications Engineering, along with a Master’s Diploma in Software Engineering, complement his rich domain expertise and deep understanding of emerging technology trends.
CEO Insights engaged in a one-on-one interaction with Senthil Kumar Balasubramaniam. Let’s hear from him.
As a seasoned professional with over three decades of industry experience, could you highlight some of the most significant mile stones in your career journey?
Over the course of my close to three decades’ career, I’ve led several high-impact trans - formation initiatives across telecom, fintech, and digital services. A defining milestone has been orchestrating Lyca Group’s largest digital reinvention, integrating telecom, media, healthcare, travel, and financial services into a single, cloud-native digital platform. Currently, I am leading the redesign of Lyca Group's Core Network, OCS and BSS strategy, introducing real-time KYC validation and machine learning-powered value management tools. These upgrades have led to a 40 percent improvement in processing efficiency.
In June 2024, I stepped into the role of Group Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Lyca Group, a leading Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). In this position, I’m spearheading a comprehensive digital transformation across various sectors, Telecom, FinTech, Media, Healthcare, and Travel, by building an integrated, AI-driven digital ecosystem.
I’m also leading efforts to modernize the company’s mobile wallet and international remittance platforms to unlock new revenue opportunities. Furthermore, I’m driving the expansion of Lyca Group's network in Uganda to achieve 90 percent geographic coverage, alongside deploying 5G NSA/SA infra -structure in collaboration with Huawei.
At One Web, I personally designed and deployed the digital infrastructure underpinning its global LEO satellite service, including customer provisioning tools BSS and data analytic dashboards supporting service assurance and commercial operations.
In India, I spearheaded Airtel’s first TDD and FDD LTE deployments at Airtel and developed a blockchain based 'do-not-disturb' filtering engine that blocked over millions of messages daily protecting over 400 million subscribers. I designed and implemented large scale integrated Service Assurance platform cutting across all networks.
In your role as CTIO, how have you restructured the organization’s systems, ope- rations, and culture to keep pace with the demands of digital transformation?
At Lyca Group, my focus is been on embedding agile-at-scale practices and decentralizing decision making to drive speed, ownership, and innovation across teams. Under my leadership, Lyca transitioned to an API-first, cloudnative infrastructure, reducing service deployment time by 30 percent and enabling seamless cross-vertical inte- gration of media, travel, and healthcare platforms.
Culturally, we’ve cultivated a digital-first mindset, fostering innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous learning. Our operating model now empowers squads to rapidly iterate and respond to shifting customer expectations, making Lyca Group more agile, resilient, and future-ready.
Can you share your leadership style and the key principles or methods that guide the way you lead teams?
My leadership philosophy is built on clarity, empowerment, and accountability. I believe in setting aligned objectives and then enabling teams with autonomy, tools, and trust. I practice servant leadership, my role is to support and remove barriers so teams can deliver.
I emphasize cross-functional synergies, experimentation, and transparency. I cultivate a culture of intelligent risk-taking, where failures are dissected through structured reviews and converted into product design learnings. This approach builds resilience, enhances collaboration, and aligns execution with long-term strategic impact.
How do you stay current with evolving industry trends to ensure your organization remains future-ready?
I actively engage with global innovation hubs and forums such as GSMA, MWC and TM Forum, maintaining a pulse on trends in AI, mobile and digital technology, and cybersecurity, to influence Lyca Group's digital strategy.
I analyze not just trends, but their enterprise implications, shaping Lyca’s strategic direction with a clear focus on value creation and inclusion.
We’re building Lyca to be not just responsive, but visionary, leading in areas like AI-driven personalization, intent-based user experiencesand ecosystem orchestration. For me, staying relevant means aligning technology with business goals and societal progress.
I’m also leading efforts to modernize the company’s mobile wallet and international remittance platforms to unlock new revenue opportunities. Furthermore, I’m driving the expansion of Lyca Group's network in Uganda to achieve 90 percent geographic coverage, alongside deploying 5G NSA/SA infra -structure in collaboration with Huawei.
At One Web, I personally designed and deployed the digital infrastructure underpinning its global LEO satellite service, including customer provisioning tools BSS and data analytic dashboards supporting service assurance and commercial operations.
In India, I spearheaded Airtel’s first TDD and FDD LTE deployments at Airtel and developed a blockchain based 'do-not-disturb' filtering engine that blocked over millions of messages daily protecting over 400 million subscribers. I designed and implemented large scale integrated Service Assurance platform cutting across all networks.
My vision is to position as an accomplished leader in the area of digital transformation, cutting across various communication techno -logies and bringing it across various industry segments including telecom, fintech, health-care, media and more
In your role as CTIO, how have you restructured the organization’s systems, ope- rations, and culture to keep pace with the demands of digital transformation?
At Lyca Group, my focus is been on embedding agile-at-scale practices and decentralizing decision making to drive speed, ownership, and innovation across teams. Under my leadership, Lyca transitioned to an API-first, cloudnative infrastructure, reducing service deployment time by 30 percent and enabling seamless cross-vertical inte- gration of media, travel, and healthcare platforms.
Culturally, we’ve cultivated a digital-first mindset, fostering innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous learning. Our operating model now empowers squads to rapidly iterate and respond to shifting customer expectations, making Lyca Group more agile, resilient, and future-ready.
Can you share your leadership style and the key principles or methods that guide the way you lead teams?
My leadership philosophy is built on clarity, empowerment, and accountability. I believe in setting aligned objectives and then enabling teams with autonomy, tools, and trust. I practice servant leadership, my role is to support and remove barriers so teams can deliver.
I emphasize cross-functional synergies, experimentation, and transparency. I cultivate a culture of intelligent risk-taking, where failures are dissected through structured reviews and converted into product design learnings. This approach builds resilience, enhances collaboration, and aligns execution with long-term strategic impact.
How do you stay current with evolving industry trends to ensure your organization remains future-ready?
I actively engage with global innovation hubs and forums such as GSMA, MWC and TM Forum, maintaining a pulse on trends in AI, mobile and digital technology, and cybersecurity, to influence Lyca Group's digital strategy.
I analyze not just trends, but their enterprise implications, shaping Lyca’s strategic direction with a clear focus on value creation and inclusion.
We’re building Lyca to be not just responsive, but visionary, leading in areas like AI-driven personalization, intent-based user experiencesand ecosystem orchestration. For me, staying relevant means aligning technology with business goals and societal progress.
What is the long-term vision you're working toward?
My long-term mission is to establish Lyca Group as a digital-first enterprise that pioneers AI-driven platforms across telecom and fintech, while also advising startups on transformative tech for emerging markets. I’m focused on building a resilient digital core that supports scale, innovation, and personalization. Beyond Lyca Group, I’m passionate about advancing digital inclusion, bringing transformative technologies to underserved communities. In the long term, I aim to advise boards and startups focused on frontier technologies and emerging markets where digital trans - formation can drive equitable progress.
What guidance would you offer to emerging leaders in the technology and telecom sectors, based on your experience?
My advice to future leaders is to stay agile and cross functional in mindset, to lead with empathy, and to create business-aligned innovation grounded in ethical and inclusive practices. Develop a broad, cross-functional perspective, under standing how technology intersects with business, operations, and customer needs. Prioritize the growth of your teams, and lead with empathy and integrity. Most importantly, focus on creating real business impact by aligning technical expertise with strategic goals. Leadership isn’t just about innovation, it’s about delivering meaningful value while staying grounded in ethical, inclusive, and human-centered practices.
Senthil Kumar Bala - subramaniam, CTIO, Lyca Group
Senthil Kumar Balasubramaniam is a technology leader with nearly three decades of experience in the Telecommunications and IT sectors, currently serving as Chief Technology and Information Officer at Lyca Group. He leads digital strategy, transformation, and operations across diverse industries including MVNO, MNO, Fintech, Media, Travel, and Healthcare.
With expertise in large-scale telecom networks, spanning 2G to 5G, fiber, satellite, and fixed-line, he brings a strong engineering and software back ground. He is passionate about mentoring in AI, BSS/OSS, IoT, and Blockchain, and enjoy helping teams innovate, scale, and succeed in fast-evolving digital landscapes.
•Hobbies: Driving in difficult terrain, Cooking for friends and family
•Favorite Cuisine: South Indian
•Favorite Book: Crucial Conver -sations by Kerry Patterson
•Favorite Travel Destination: Himalayas – Leh, Ladakh, Sikkim
•Awards and Accomplish - ments: Many individual and team awards, the proudest one being Satellite Telecoms Award at the World Communication Awards 2023
Key Career Milestones:
•Indian AirForce (Early Career) – Served as a Communications Engineer, recognized for advancing IP based military communi-cation systems.
•Shoghi Communi - cations (1999–2005)– Led secure telecom and interception tech for defense ; rose to Director of Technology over - seeing encryption and SIGINT solutions.
•Bharti Airtel(2005–2018)– Held multiple CTO roles led India’s first TDD LTE 4G rollout in Kolkata expanded rural coverage, and managed operations across 35,000+ cell sites and £70M+ business.
•SVP & Head of B2C Engi - neering at Airtel (2016–2018) – Spearheaded IT transformation, insourced IBM managed services, and led mergers with Telenor and Tata Tele services.
•2018-2021-CIO B2B for Airtel-Led scalable architecture for Airtel B2B systems, transforming BSS/OSS with unified inventory and network service assurance platform. Implemented agile teams, and automation bots for network self-healing. Delivered 400M+ scalable network fault and performance systems.
•OneWeb (2021–2024)– As Head of Digital Products & Platforms, delivered Digital core systems for LEO satellite internet Won at the 2023 World Communication Awards.
•Lyca Group (2024–Present)– Currently Group CTO & Innovation Officer, leading AI-driven digital transformation across five verticals and expanding 5G and network coverage in Uganda.
My long-term mission is to establish Lyca Group as a digital-first enterprise that pioneers AI-driven platforms across telecom and fintech, while also advising startups on transformative tech for emerging markets. I’m focused on building a resilient digital core that supports scale, innovation, and personalization. Beyond Lyca Group, I’m passionate about advancing digital inclusion, bringing transformative technologies to underserved communities. In the long term, I aim to advise boards and startups focused on frontier technologies and emerging markets where digital trans - formation can drive equitable progress.
What guidance would you offer to emerging leaders in the technology and telecom sectors, based on your experience?
My advice to future leaders is to stay agile and cross functional in mindset, to lead with empathy, and to create business-aligned innovation grounded in ethical and inclusive practices. Develop a broad, cross-functional perspective, under standing how technology intersects with business, operations, and customer needs. Prioritize the growth of your teams, and lead with empathy and integrity. Most importantly, focus on creating real business impact by aligning technical expertise with strategic goals. Leadership isn’t just about innovation, it’s about delivering meaningful value while staying grounded in ethical, inclusive, and human-centered practices.
Senthil Kumar Bala - subramaniam, CTIO, Lyca Group
Senthil Kumar Balasubramaniam is a technology leader with nearly three decades of experience in the Telecommunications and IT sectors, currently serving as Chief Technology and Information Officer at Lyca Group. He leads digital strategy, transformation, and operations across diverse industries including MVNO, MNO, Fintech, Media, Travel, and Healthcare.
With expertise in large-scale telecom networks, spanning 2G to 5G, fiber, satellite, and fixed-line, he brings a strong engineering and software back ground. He is passionate about mentoring in AI, BSS/OSS, IoT, and Blockchain, and enjoy helping teams innovate, scale, and succeed in fast-evolving digital landscapes.
•Hobbies: Driving in difficult terrain, Cooking for friends and family
•Favorite Cuisine: South Indian
•Favorite Book: Crucial Conver -sations by Kerry Patterson
•Favorite Travel Destination: Himalayas – Leh, Ladakh, Sikkim
•Awards and Accomplish - ments: Many individual and team awards, the proudest one being Satellite Telecoms Award at the World Communication Awards 2023
Key Career Milestones:
•Indian AirForce (Early Career) – Served as a Communications Engineer, recognized for advancing IP based military communi-cation systems.
•Shoghi Communi - cations (1999–2005)– Led secure telecom and interception tech for defense ; rose to Director of Technology over - seeing encryption and SIGINT solutions.
•Bharti Airtel(2005–2018)– Held multiple CTO roles led India’s first TDD LTE 4G rollout in Kolkata expanded rural coverage, and managed operations across 35,000+ cell sites and £70M+ business.
•SVP & Head of B2C Engi - neering at Airtel (2016–2018) – Spearheaded IT transformation, insourced IBM managed services, and led mergers with Telenor and Tata Tele services.
•2018-2021-CIO B2B for Airtel-Led scalable architecture for Airtel B2B systems, transforming BSS/OSS with unified inventory and network service assurance platform. Implemented agile teams, and automation bots for network self-healing. Delivered 400M+ scalable network fault and performance systems.
•OneWeb (2021–2024)– As Head of Digital Products & Platforms, delivered Digital core systems for LEO satellite internet Won at the 2023 World Communication Awards.
•Lyca Group (2024–Present)– Currently Group CTO & Innovation Officer, leading AI-driven digital transformation across five verticals and expanding 5G and network coverage in Uganda.