Our leadership
Our purpose is to transform customer experiences. We’ll do that by developing exceptional colleague engagement, industry leading customer service and delighting our clients, working as true partners with their business.
CEO
Shashidhar "Shashi" Bhat is a seasoned business executive who specialises in areas at the intersection of business and technology. Shashi has spent much of his career in financial services and fintech, helping companies modernise the way they work and grow through digital transformation. He’s led programmes across banking, wealth management and payments. In an executive capacity, he worked in multiple geographies with Citibank over two decades, and delivered significant commercial and customer KPI growth.
He currently consults with and advises organisations - both established and startup - on product, propositions, operating model, digital transformation and growth. He has won industry awards for digital transformation and is a speaker at key industry conferences.
His passions include musing about the learnings from golf into life and vice versa, and also listening to and learning from a variety of audio podcasts on business, technology, economics and politics. He lives in London, UK with his wife and two children
As an established Board Executive, Aileen has expertise in digital business transformation across retail and commercial banking.
She has more than 10 years’ experience in executive and non-executive roles, helping to leverage growth opportunities for several leading financial services organisations including Co-operative Bank, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group (CYBG), and global technology service provider Cognizant.
Most recently, Aileen held the role of Chair of The Co-Operative Bank ESG Outsourcing Committee, providing strategic guidance to its £17bn lending business. She was also a Board Director at Yorkshire Bank Home Loans with specific responsibility to oversee and govern the £21bn lending division.
Andrew had an executive career with EY, where he was a partner for 28 years and was a board member and trustee of the firm’s pension schemes, before retiring in 2016. He is now a non-executive director of Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc, C. Hoare & Co., and Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc. He's previously served on the boards of Southern Housing Group, National Bank of Greece and the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
At EY Andrew served as the auditor of many of the firm’s largest audit clients, during which time he spent six years in Switzerland leading the audit of the UBS banking group.
Tell us about your role at Target and how you focus on our purpose of transforming customer experiences
In my role as Chief Executive Officer, I'm focussed on ensuring I create a working environment for our colleagues to thrive and develop whilst working closely with our clients to delight their customers. In my role as part of the Target Board and leading the Executive Committee – I lead on the strategic direction of the company and ensure that we deliver our business plans with a relentless focus on our colleagues, customers and clients through a purpose-led leadership style.
As a business leader, could you tell us about someone you admire in business and why?
I admire Seb Vettel (Formula 1 driver) not because he has won four World Championships but because, whilst he hasn't won for a very long time, he still has the passion and drive to keep going and working hard. He's recently been an inspiration in terms of focusing on the green agenda, not just saying the right things; he took action, such as collecting litter personally at the British Grand Prix. It made me reflect and acknowledge you can't win at everything, but it's how you keep moving forward and learning.
Finally, can you share your passions outside of work?
My passions outside work are my family. I'm married with two young children. I enjoy all sports including running but in particular motor sport. I race go-karts and cars across Britain and Europe.
Vishwajit Negi is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Tech Mahindra Business Process Services (BPS).
In his role, he oversees operations, delivery, and drives the strategic growth of the company’s BPS arm. With a diverse career background spanning 35 years in the Financial Services, Business Process Management and Hospitality domains, Vishwajit comes with a proven track record of managing and delivering results in large-scale global customer management operations across both GCC and BPO organisations. He brings with him extensive functional experience across the BPO lifecycle, particularly in areas of Operations Management, Business Process Re-engineering & Transformation, general management of global cross-functional teams, P&L ownership, and across different industry verticals like Telecom, Media, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance.
Prior to joining Tech Mahindra, Vishwajit Negi served as the General Manager and Vice President of the Global Customer Fulfilment Network at American Express. In this position, he was responsible for streamlining operations and enhancing customer service processes, helping to elevate the brand's service delivery standards. He also served on the Board of American Express (India) Pvt Ltd as also part of the Board’s subcommittee focussed on in country ESG initiatives
Before his tenure at American Express, Vishwajit was the Chief Operating Officer at ISGN (now Sourcepoint Mortgages, a FirstSource company), a leading provider of mortgage technology and services in the US. Along his BPO career, he has held various senior leadership roles at FirstSource Solutions and EXL Services. He had an illustrious career with ITC (Hotels Division) during the initial 10 years in his career before moving to the Outsourcing/offshoring services industry.
Pankaj heads the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) business for EMEA and leads the Global Strategic Initiatives at Tech Mahindra. He also now serves as Director of Target Group. His impressive track record includes managing a $2.4+ billion services business as the Global Head of Sales - Insurance at DXC Ltd.
With a strong background at firms such as Infosys, where he served as Global Head of Insurance and UK Country Head, along with significant experience in consulting at McKinsey and tech leadership at Citibank, Pankaj brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable in his new role as Director
Tell us about your role at Target and how you focus on our purpose of transforming customer experiences
In my role as Chief Executive Officer, I'm focussed on ensuring I create a working environment for our colleagues to thrive and develop whilst working closely with our clients to delight their customers. In my role as part of the Target Board and leading the Executive Committee – I lead on the strategic direction of the company and ensure that we deliver our business plans with a relentless focus on our colleagues, customers and clients through a purpose-led leadership style.
As a business leader, could you tell us about someone you admire in business and why?
I admire Seb Vettel (Formula 1 driver) not because he has won four World Championships but because, whilst he hasn't won for a very long time, he still has the passion and drive to keep going and working hard. He's recently been an inspiration in terms of focusing on the green agenda, not just saying the right things; he took action, such as collecting litter personally at the British Grand Prix. It made me reflect and acknowledge you can't win at everything, but it's how you keep moving forward and learning.
Finally, can you share your passions outside of work?
My passions outside work are my family. I'm married with two young children. I enjoy all sports including running but in particular motor sport. I race go-karts and cars across Britain and Europe.
Tell us about your role at Target and how you focus on our purpose of transforming customer experiences
As Chief Financial Officer, I provide financial guidance on the organisation's strategic direction, specifically regarding the Group's business strategy and corporate plans to support delivery.
I'm also responsible for advising on the financial implications of pricing strategies through modelling the profitability of new business opportunities and re-pricing of existing contracts. This insight informs and supports decision-making by the Executive team and Board.
As a business leader, could you tell us about someone you admire in business and why?
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He's one of the most successful investors in the world and the world's sixth wealthiest person. I admire him because of the principles he lives by, which have contributed to his success. He embodies ambition, discipline and drive. He started investing at the age of 11!
He also demonstrates how loyalty, patience and a long-term investment approach can bring success, evidenced in the following quote; "Successful Investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."
He's also humble and gives back to causes that matter to him. He's promised to donate over 99% of his wealth, and despite his success, he still lives in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500.
Finally, can you share your passions outside of work?
Being the best mother to my daughter and showing her what strong female leadership looks like, if that's the path she chooses.
Tell us about your role at Target and how you focus on our purpose of transforming customer experiences
As Chief People Officer, my responsibility is to wake up thinking about our colleagues and what we can do to drive a workforce that feels supported, empowered and engaged. When colleagues are happy and enjoy what they do, they delight customers. We're shaping a workforce that is obsessed with our purpose of positively transforming customer experiences.
Some of my strategic priorities are Talent Acquisition, Engagement, Reducing our Carbon Footprint, Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership, Development, Marketing and Communications.
As a business leader, could you tell us about someone you admire in business and why?
Henry Engelhardt, the Founder and former CEO of Admiral Group. Henry built an organisation with its colleagues at the heart of the business. I relate massively to his phrase, ‘People who enjoy what they do, do it better’. Henry has created a culture that is diverse, inspiring and inclusive, and this culture has enabled its colleagues to deliver great results and growth.
Finally, can you share your passions outside of work?
Outside of work I love spending time with family, friends, my husband Paul and my beautiful cat Troy Benitez! I’m a keen walker and especially enjoy going on lots of coastal walks at weekends.
Tell us about your role at Target and how you focus on our purpose of transforming customer experiences
As Chief Commercial Officer at Target my focus is on ensuring we provide the very best customer experience through our new and existing contracts in a manner that is legally sound and commercially viable. I will have overall responsibility for ensuring our new contracts fit within our company policies and are compliant with client and regulatory expectations. I will also be working with our clients to better understand their business needs and find ways of transforming our mutual customer experiences for the better. I’m passionate about improving customer experiences and believe Target is well placed to be an industry leader in the financial services sector.
As a business leader, could you tell us about someone you admire in business or any profession and why?
The person I most admire is Andy Murray. I think he has achieved so much in an incredibly difficult sport and he’s done this by using every ounce of talent and a lot of hard work and dedication. I also admire him for the way he has stood up for issues and causes he believes in beyond sport to try to influence society for the better.
Finally, can you share your passions outside of work?
I am into all sports and am a coach of the football club that my 2 boys play for in Bristol where I live. Outside of this I am a keen (if slow) runner and enjoy running with friends at the weekend. Having been born and brought up in Nottinghamshire, I am a keen Nottingham Forest fan and try to get to games whenever I can particularly as I’ve managed to convince my kids to support them too. As a family we spend quite a bit of time in Scotland as my wife is a keen hill walker and is currently ticking off all the Munros.
Tell us about your role at Target and how you focus on our purpose of transforming customer experiences
As Chief Operating Officer I have the privilege of working directly with our colleagues who interact with our customers every day. This unique insight means they understand our customers' needs and expectations more than anyone.
I’ll be collaborating closely with colleagues to empower them with the skills, tools, and advanced capabilities they need to continue to transform customer experiences.
As a business leader, could you tell us about someone you admire in business and why?
Anne Boden, who has had a distinguished career in banking, however, my admiration comes from the obstacles that she faced and her resilience in overcoming them. Anne once said as a middle-aged, short, Welsh woman people used to laugh at her because they did not think someone with her experience could be a technologist.
Anne went into a technical role in financial services in the 1980s, financial services in the past was a notoriously difficult field for woman to progress in. Not only did she progress, but she excelled becoming the first woman ever to found a British bank. Swap Scotland for Wales and I had the same challenges, although admittedly I wasn't trying to do anything nearly as ambitious, when trying to convince people on the concept of Mortgage Hub.
Anne’s mission statement was “At the heart of what I wanted to do was to help people to have an easier relationship with money” something which I am also passionate about and believe the financial service industry still need to do more to make happen. Whenever I am in a difficult situation, I ask myself, what would Anne do?
Finally, can you share your passions outside of work?
My family, in addition to being a wife and a dog Mum, I am one of seven children with 21 amazing nieces and nephews who spend more time in my house than I do. My Dad insists that I got all my business acumen from him, however, from my Mum, she taught me how to cook and bake, both things I love, and she is currently teaching me how to sew. I am a sourdough baker so spend inordinate amounts of time trying to keep my starter alive.
Tell us about your role at Target and how you focus on our purpose of transforming customer experiences
As Head of Business Strategy, I ensure that Target’s vision and strategy is clear and that we have robust plans in place to deliver our strategic objectives
As a business leader, could you tell us about someone you admire in business and why?
I’m a huge admirer of Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code, which seeks to combat the gender disparity in computing. Reshma is committed to breaking down structural barriers for women and girls within business and society, using her platform and influence towards this purpose. Her 2016 TED talk and her book, Brave not Perfect, are both so inspirational to me – we should not let fears drown out our dreams and narrow our world, but instead make bravery a lifelong habit.
Finally, can you share your passions outside of work?
I love going for family dog walks along the beautiful East Lothian coastline, where we live. I’m passionate about lifelong learning and really enjoy reading and reviewing books about leadership and personal development