About Karthik
Karthik Chakkarapani is a forward-looking SVP & Chief Information Officer and Head of Enterprise AI at Zuora, recognized for leading large-scale digital business transformation, customer-centric innovation, and enterprise AI initiatives that deliver measurable growth and competitive advantage. With more than two decades of global leadership experience across SaaS, technology, and industrial enterprises, Karthik operates at the intersection of strategy, execution, and human-centered transformation, helping organizations reimagine operating models, modernize experiences, and prepare for the future of work. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he is widely regarded as a transformative CIO and AI business leader, particularly within fast-growing mid-market and late-stage pre-IPO environments.
At Zuora, Karthik leads enterprise IT, data, data science, business operations, and AI transformation in support of the company’s Total Monetization vision. He architects next-generation operating models powered by agentic AI, predictive analytics, and autonomous workflows, modernizes customer and employee experiences, and enables secure, scalable cloud ecosystems through Zero Trust and SaaS rationalization. His hands-on yet strategic leadership style has driven significant outcomes, including multi-million-dollar cost reductions, large-scale SaaS simplification, and AI-enabled customer health and growth propensity models that directly impact retention and revenue. Prior to Zuora, Karthik served as SVP, Chief Digital & Information Officer for the Americas at Signify and held senior transformation leadership roles at Cisco and Salesforce, where he helped accelerate the shift to recurring revenue models, improve lifecycle customer experience, and unlock profitable growth through data-driven decision intelligence.
Karthik is known for his ability to see the big picture while operating effectively at every altitude, from board-level strategy to operational execution and personal leadership awareness. His unique value lies in balancing vision with delivery: selecting the right technologies to solve real business problems, building and empowering high-performance teams, and driving speed, scale, and change through collaboration. He is deeply passionate about customer experience, AI-enabled enterprises, and the future of work. He frequently shares his perspectives as a thought leader, conference speaker, and panelist, as well as through contributions and commentary across executive forums and industry publications.
An avid lifelong learner, Karthik has completed advanced executive education at INSEAD, Harvard Business School, IMD, MIT, and the Institute of Design, and holds an MBA in Finance & Strategy from DePaul University, an MS in Electronics & Telecommunications from the University of South Australia, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Madras. He has earned numerous industry certifications and accolades, including the Gartner Eye for Innovation (Enterprise AI & Workplace Experience), CSO 100 & Zenny Award for Zero Trust Transformation, and recognition as a Global Top 150 Business Transformation Executive by Constellation Research. He has also served as an executive advisor and coach with Northwestern Kellogg and NYU Tandon, mentoring the next generation of CIOs and digital leaders.
In addition to his enterprise leadership, Karthik advises SaaS startups on go-to-market and product strategy, enterprise readiness, and CxO-level value narratives. He is a co-founder of Achamillai, a nonprofit focused on education, skills development, and employment opportunities for the visually impaired and underprivileged. He believes meaningful transformation must benefit both business and society, and that the future belongs to organizations that can continuously learn, adapt, and lead responsibly with AI. He is passionate about helping leaders drive, build, and create lasting value at the intersection of technology, business, and social impact.