Ganesh Rao has taken on a new leadership role at Zurich Insurance, joining its Global Capability Center (GCC) in Hyderabad as Chief Operating Officer. He will oversee GCC strategy and operations, along with finance, site management, vendor governance, risk and compliance, procurement and other enterprise functions.
Rao brings nearly 30 years of experience across global business services, shared services, finance, operations and transformation.
Before joining Zurich Insurance, Rao served as Head of Shared Services and Chief Administrative Officer at Principal Financial Group from April 2024 to April 2026. He led global delivery and operations for corporate functions including financial services, compliance, sourcing, actuarial services, internal audit and risk consulting, marketing, UI/UX and other shared services.
As Chief Administrative Officer, he also managed business continuity across Pune, Hyderabad and Manila, workforce analytics, partner enablement and engagement with the wider GCC ecosystem.
Earlier, Rao spent more than 3 years with Allianz Services as Head of Global Delivery for Group Corporate Functions. His role covered strategy, operations, innovation and service delivery across finance operations, HR operations and compliance support. He was also part of the India Management Board and the combined management structure of Allianz Technology and Allianz Services in India, contributing to growth, talent, automation, customer management and operational strategy.
Rao previously spent more than 7 years with CMA CGM Global Business Services (India) as CFO and Director – Finance & Accounting. He managed a global finance portfolio covering 25 legal entities across Asia, the Americas and Europe, with teams in Chennai, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo and Mumbai. He also helped establish and scale finance practices across locations before taking on the CFO role for CMA CGM in Indonesia.
From 2008 to 2013, Rao worked with A.P. Moller – Maersk as an AGM and site execution lead, driving order-to-cash delivery, scope expansion and SAP deployment across more than 100 countries. Earlier, he worked as an FP&A Manager at HP, supporting global financial planning, closing, reporting and budgeting.
His earlier career included corporate finance, accounting and banking operations roles covering financial analysis, risk reporting, trade finance, working capital and statutory audits.
Rao has also completed executive education, including the Leading Digital Transformation programme at IIM Bangalore in 2026, the Senior Leaders Programme in General Management at IIM Ahmedabad, an Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting from CIMA, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management in Finance from Loyola Institute of Business Administration.
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