A former Indian Army officer, Capt Ashok Kutty has over 30 years of experience in the field of security and safety, crisis management and business continuity. He commenced his career in August 1983 as a commissioned officer in Mahar Regiment and served in field formations deployed at Punjab and Kargil (Jammu and Kashmir).

After his voluntary retirement from the Army upon completing his service obligations as a Short Service Commission officer, Capt Kutty commenced his career in the field of corporate security in March 1989. He was the Cluster Security Manager – South Asia, Citi, till his retirement on 30 November 2022. He was the Chief of Internal Vigilance for Citibank N.A., India and also the Nodal Officer – Vigilance for Citicorp Finance India Limited from 06 January 2020.

During his tenure, he was in charge of security risk management, crisis response and management and played a critical role in business continuity measures of operations of all Citi entities in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The operations included 65 facilities (including retail branches) spread over 29 cities in three countries. Additionally, he took over the responsibilities of the Cluster Security Manager – South Asia since the formation of CSIS. Moreover, he managed the Safety Program for the Asia-Pacific (ASPAC) region.

Capt Kutty was also one of the first few corporate security professionals in the country, as the responsibility of security was largely handled by professionals who also managed Administration, Real Estate or Human Resources till the 1990s.  As a seasoned veteran of the security industry, he has been a witness to and part of the changes that the corporate security profession has undergone, as part of Citi and the security industry per se.

During his 30 years of service with Citi, Capt Kutty has also overseen various portfolios to include, Safety and Security, Crisis Management, Executive Protection, Asset Management, Real Estate and Project Management, Collections, Fraud and Vigilance. His major achievements in the field of security and crisis management as part of Citi are:

• Managing a security program with zero security incidents to report since 1989.
• Installed the first security systems in a corporate environment in India, which involved the identification of appropriate equipment that was available in the market, identification of service providers for the projects and maintenance of this equipment
• First security manager to undergo training in the construction of modular vaults in the United States, per UL standards.
• Led the construction and installation of cash storage vaults and equipment, per UL standards, for the first time in India.
• Managed projects that involved relocation from approximately seventy-five premises in South Asia that were non-complainant with Citi standards for safety and/or security. This excludes other Real Estate Projects measuring about 2M.
• Lead Executive Protection for all the Global CEOs during their visits to South Asia and major Citi events since 1989 without any security incidents.
• Regulated Citi’s response to all natural and manmade disasters and have been an integral part of Citi’s Crisis Management Team in managing other crises which had security implications or required coordination of Citi’s action with law enforcement agencies in South Asia.
• Assisted Director of Security, Asia Pacific, in conducting peer reviews of most APAC countries and implementing measures aimed at ensuring compliance of premises with Citi standards.
• Represented ASPAC during the planning, testing and rollout of the software for incident reporting and management systems.
• Played a major role in the initial drafting and subsequent updates to Citi’s policies, procedures and standards pertaining to safety and security.
• Planned, designed and executed all Security & Safety projects undertaken in South Asia, including establishing the South Asia Command Centre (SACC). The SACC is designed to act as a backup for the Regional Command Centre.
• Implemented technology solutions across his domain, thereby reducing recurring costs on security manpower
• Mentored young security professionals

Capt Kutty has been an active participant in the security industry forums with an aim to contribute to the development of the industry and fellow security professionals. His contributions to the industry are:

• Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) – Chairperson, Mumbai Chapter – 2008 – 2017.
• Asia Crisis and Security Group (ACSG) – Founder Member in India and the Country Representative for the year 2017.

Sister Banks Forum – Founder member and Chairperson – 2015 – 2017.