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Rakesh Khanna (born 1962) is Syntel's current Chief Operating Officer.

Appointed COO in January 2012, Rakesh is responsible for the operation of Syntel's Business Units, Horizontal Practices, Centers of Excellence and Human Resources.

He previously served as a President of Syntel's Banking and Financial Services Business Unit from 2005 until 2012. Rakesh was also part of the Syntel executive advisory team that shaped Syntel's BPO business.

Rakesh was ranked 54th by ExecRank.com in their list of Top COOs of 2012.

Prior to Syntel, Rakesh was part of the leadership team at I-flex Solutions. He has also worked with Tata Burroughs Limited where he managed projects in the US, UK, Belgium, Malaysia and India for several banks and financial groups.

Early life and education
Rakesh was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, a central state of India, and grew up in suburban Mumbai.

Rakesh's father was an Aeronautical Mechanical Engineer. As a child, Rakesh took an interest in extracurricular activities and performed well in academics. He represented his school in badminton and learnt to play Spanish guitar. In college, Rakesh was elected Class Representative by his colleagues.

Rakesh holds a B.E. (Mechanical Engineering) degree from Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI), Mumbai. He has also done his M.B.A (Marketing) from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai.

He is a member of the Academic Council and Board of Studies for IT, NMIMS, one of the top business schools in India.

Career
Rakesh has over 30 years of experience in the technology services industry and has held a variety of leadership roles in North America, Europe and Asia.

Rakesh was appointed as the COO in January 2012. Before this, he was the President of the Banking and Financial Services Business Unit at where he successfully led the vertical from 2005 until 2012, building the foundation for future growth by infusing business domain knowledge into IT expertise.

Prior to joining Syntel in 2005, Rakesh was working with Oracle Financial Services Software Limited (formerly I-flex Solutions Limited), where he was a member of the leadership team and has spent 10 years in various roles. He was on the Supervisory Board of Login Systems SA, France, in which I-flex acquired a strategic stake in 2003. He also set up operations in Japan and Europe, leading and managing various elements of the operations in those countries. Other roles included leading sales in the Middle East and Europe, head of product marketing for its banking product, and Global Relationship Director for a roll out of their product at GE Consumer Finance in 43 countries.

Rakesh worked with Citicorp CITIL managing sales and marketing of software products for 10 years. He has also worked with Tata Burroughs Limited for over a decade. He started as a mainframe programmer with the company and rose through the levels to become Group Manager. During his tenure, he managed projects for several banks and financial groups, including BACOB Savings Bank (Brussels), Nat West, Skipton, Yorkshire Building Societies (UK), GWB, and Tata Share Registry (TSRL).