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In a 2018 interview, HSBC executive Balasubramanian Ganesh described digital transformation as an organization-wide change—not simply a redesign of a website or customer app. His account centered on five connected pillars: APIs, data strategy, mobility, cloud computing and security. It also set out a distinctive approach to modernizing older systems: treat them as “heritage,” involve the people who understand them, and give teams tools to adapt rather than separating modernization into a fast-moving IT lane.
What Ganesh meant by digital transformation
Ganesh, then HSBC’s Global CIO for Retail Banking and Wealth Management and chairman of HSBC Software Development (India), argued that digital reached beyond the screens customers used. In his words: “I believe digital extends to everything – culture, values, change and mind-set, and is not merely restricted to user or customer experience, or the look and feel of a website, clicks, traffic etc.”
That definition made transformation both a technology and organizational challenge. Customer needs differed by market, he said, so a bank could not assume one channel or technology response would fit every country. Ganesh used Mexico as an example: because it remained cash-led, ATMs still mattered. Regulation also shaped technology choices, while technology was taking a growing role in decision-making.
The five pillars in HSBC’s 2018 account
Ganesh presented five related areas as the foundation of HSBC’s digital approach at the time. The interview describes his 2018 account, not HSBC’s current technology stack or policy.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11| Pillar | Role in Ganesh’s account |
|---|---|
| API economy | Connect product systems and customer channels more easily. Ganesh said channels were becoming more central and described APIs as foundational to moving digital. |
| Data strategy | Use customer information and technologies such as biometrics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics to support personalization and context. He also described technology-assisted identification of financial crime. |
| Mobility | Make mobile capabilities a major focus in the effort to improve customer experience. |
| Cloud computing | Make technology available as needed while accounting for data protection and data residency requirements. |
| Security | Treat cybersecurity as a corporate responsibility, supported by learning, tools and a bank-wide cybersecurity program. |
Why HSBC called older systems “heritage”
Rather than describe older systems as “legacy,” Ganesh said, “we don’t call the old ‘legacy’ – we call it heritage”. The wording reflected a practical concern: people with long experience of core banking systems hold knowledge that can be important during change. He argued that a two-speed or bimodal IT model could alienate those employees by positioning a new, fast-moving technology group apart from the existing organization.
His alternative was to support adoption throughout the technology function, including in core banking and other established systems. Ganesh described internally developed tools intended to help staff learn and adopt change. The aim, as he framed it, was to keep the customer experience consistent while changing the people and systems that delivered it—not to preserve every older system unchanged.
How the operating model connected delivery to business outcomes
Ganesh described Agile DevOps as a standard methodology and said HSBC had simplified structures to help teams collaborate. He also said teams discussed measurable business outcomes each month in connection with the features they delivered. This linked software work to intended business results, although the interview did not provide an independent assessment of whether those outcomes were achieved.
The scale figures he reported give a sense of the organization he was describing, but they are historical interview claims, not current HSBC metrics:
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- Tools: around 100 selected tools on which HSBC was focusing and educating its technology workforce.
- Digital features: 100 delivered in the prior year; for the year of the interview, 60 delivered to date against a target of 200.
- APIs: several hundred created across different countries over 18 months.
- India workforce: about 13,000 HSBC technology employees and contractors.
The interview gives no audit method or independent verification for these numbers. They should be understood as figures Ganesh reported in 2018, not as evidence of present-day staffing, delivery volume or comparative performance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the interview does—and does not—establish
Ganesh’s account offers a coherent view of transformation: adapt technology to local customer and regulatory contexts; connect channels and product systems; use data thoughtfully; and bring people responsible for established systems into the change. Security and data residency appear as constraints to design around, not issues to address after implementation.
It is a single executive interview published by CIO on 23 May 2018, not an independently audited case study. It does not establish that the approach outperformed other banks, nor does it verify the reported operational results. Its value is as a historical explanation of how one HSBC technology leader framed the work and the organizational choices behind it.
Source: CIO interview with Balasubramanian Ganesh, 23 May 2018.
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