Singapore-headquartered asset manager and operator Keppel has appointed ex-DBS Group CEO Piyush Gupta as deputy chairman and non-executive independent director of its board, effective July 1, 2025.

The 65-year-old will also join the nominating, remuneration, as well as sustainability and safety committees on the same date.

Gupta served at DBS Group from November 2009 until March 2025.

He has 27 years of international banking experience, including a tenure as Citi’s CEO for Southeast Asia-Pacific.

🔗 Source: CNA

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Banking transformation expertise aligns with Keppel’s strategic pivot

Gupta’s appointment strategically leverages his proven experience in corporate transformation as Keppel repositions itself as a global asset manager.

During his 15-year tenure at DBS (2009-2024), Gupta transformed a traditional bank into a global financial powerhouse that earned international recognition as “World’s Best Bank” and “World’s Best Digital Bank” 1.

His leadership philosophy, focused on individual accountability, initiative, innovation, inspiration, and intent, drove DBS’s compound annual profit growth of 2.7% from 2014-2017, followed by a 36% surge in the first nine months of 2018 2.

This aligns with Keppel’s own transformation journey, which has already increased recurring income from 21% of net profit in 2021 to 72% by 2024, as the company works toward its ambitious target of S$200 billion in funds under management by 2030 3.

Keppel’s Chairman Danny Teoh highlighted Gupta’s “leadership and experience in driving business and digital transformation” as crucial for accelerating Keppel’s strategic shift .

2️⃣ Digital innovation leadership meets infrastructure ambitions

Gupta’s success in digital transformation provides valuable expertise for Keppel’s expanding digital infrastructure initiatives.

At DBS, Gupta implemented a tech-company mindset that made over 80% of systems cloud-ready by 2018, reducing data center size by 75% while increasing capacity tenfold and accelerating new application release speeds by 8.5 times 4.

This aligns with Keppel’s strategic emphasis on data center expansion and digital infrastructure growth, which forms a key component of its asset management and infrastructure strategy 3.