Razorpay appoints former AWS executive Murali Brahmadesam as new CTO

Technology veteran will lead fintech unicorn's engineering strategy and development

Fintech unicorn Razorpay has appointed Murali Brahmadesam, a former executive of Amazon Web Services (AWS), as head of engineering and chief technology officer.

The role was held by Razorpay’s co-founder, Shashank Kumar, who is now designated the company’s co-founder and managing director.

Brahmadesam has more than two decades of experience in managing diverse technology functions at scale, said Razorpay. He worked at Microsoft and Amazon, handing tech and leadership roles in India and the US.

“With over an 800-member engineering team today, we are constantly working towards solving some of the toughest challenges that businesses face today, with innovation at its core,” said Kumar. “Murali (Brahmadesam) brings in-depth knowledge of managing technology functions at scale.”

Kumar will continue working on the company's long-term plans for engineering, product and functions for the RazorpayX and Razorpay Capital businesses. Brahmadesam will drive the overall engineering strategy and development.

"I look forward to working with the team and joining Razorpay’s mission to build the central nervous system for fintech in India," said Brahmadesam.

Last December, Bengaluru-based Razorpay raised $375 million in a Series F round of funding at a $7.5-billion valuation, making it India’s second-most valuable start-up in this space, after Paytm. Razorpay’s valuation has increased more than seven times in 15 months, helping it push Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe to the third spot on the country’s most-valuable fintech companies list.