Kiran Mahil is CIO at Nationwide Building Society and a leading figure in UK financial services transformation. She leads business critical technology across core banking, payments, savings, and lending, helping the modern mutual deliver at scale for its customers. Through major platform modernisation and enterprise migrations, she has strengthened resilience, accelerated digital capability, and enabled tangible customer outcomes, including the Fairer Share payment made to millions. Known for her calm, outcomes focused leadership, Kiran combines strategic clarity with disciplined execution, building high performing teams, and sustainable capability. Her contributions are industry-wide, championing digital skills, diversity, and trusted customer-centred innovation.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CIO Magazine, Kiran shared insights into how her two-decade journey from strategy consulting to CIO in financial services shaped her customer-first leadership philosophy. She spoke about AI evolving from automation to augmenting judgement across credit, risk, and servicing, with real-time payments and platform ecosystems making continuous adaptation the new baseline by 2030. Looking ahead, Kiran’s focus is on delivering resilient, customer-centred digital platforms while treating talent as a strategic supply chain — upskilling teams at scale and mentoring more women into senior tech roles with integrity and ambition. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Your two-decade career spans running divisional businesses and leading enterprise-wide transformation across major UK financial services institutions. What was your very first role in the industry, and what did it teach you about the link between technology and customer outcomes?
My first role was at McKinsey & Company, where I worked in the European Financial Institutions Centre, focused on research, insight and consulting strategy for financial services clients. From the outset, this role grounded me in the fundamental link between technology, business strategy, and customer outcomes. I was not building technology directly; rather, I analysed how banks used data, platforms, and emerging digital capabilities to shape their propositions, improve efficiency, and respond to regulatory pressures. What became clear early on was that technology decisions only create value when they are tightly anchored in real customer needs. The most successful organisations were those that translated complex data and systems into simple, intuitive experiences, whether through product design, access to services, or greater pricing transparency.
In my subsequent roles across Telecoms and Banking, I have consistently operated at the intersection of business, technology, and delivery, with end-to-end accountability for customer outcomes. These experiences have shaped my leadership philosophy, teaching me to start with the customer problem and design the technology, operating model, and delivery approach around it. Over the past two decades, I have consistently applied this principle across enterprise transformations, digital journey launches, and core banking portfolios, ensuring technology serves as a powerful enabler of better, faster, and more inclusive customer experiences.
What do you love the most about your current role?
My role is fabulous! I have the privilege of shaping technology strategy and leading large‑scale transformation, while ensuring it delivers tangible value for Nationwide customers. The balance between long‑term strategy and immediate delivery is particularly rewarding, as it allows me to see the direct impact of decisions in improved customer journeys, market‑leading propositions, and stronger resilience. I thrive on the end‑to‑end accountability the role brings. It is not just about setting direction, but about ensuring that technology, operations, and business teams come together to deliver reliable, high‑quality outcomes at scale. I am also able to leverage the broader platform that both my role and the Nationwide brand provide. It enables me to influence industry direction on the future of technology, shaping the workforce of the future and championing inclusion, while continuing to deliver meaningful impact within my own organisation today.
A significant part of what drives me, is the opportunity to build and lead high‑performing teams. Creating a collaborative, people‑first culture focused on continuous improvement is fundamental to successful transformation. I find it especially rewarding to see teams grow, perform, and deliver together. At Nationwide, the scale and ambition of what we are delivering increasingly represents career‑defining experiences for many colleagues. That is really special.
With AI, real-time payments, and platform ecosystems converging, what will “future-ready” mean for a UK financial services firm five years from now?
Firms across the banking industry will embed AI at the core of decision making across credit, servicing, risk, and operations, moving beyond task automation to the augmentation of judgement, underpinned by strong governance and rationale. At Nationwide, we have a clear view of this direction of travel and are already progressing towards an intelligent, always‑on, platform‑led model that delivers seamless, real‑time financial experiences while maintaining trust and resilience at scale. Our continued focus on modernising the technology estate, advancing cloud adoption and embedding data‑led decision making is creating a more responsive, resilient, and insight‑driven organisation.
Real‑time payments are redefining customer expectations, making instant settlement, continuous visibility of funds, and event‑driven services the norm. At the same time, our platform ecosystem is reshaping distribution, as we expose capabilities through APIs and embed financial services into broader customer journeys. This is underpinned by cloud‑native, modular technology and a product‑centric operating model that enables pace and flexibility. Ultimately, future readiness is about continuous adaptation. At Nationwide, our focus on simplifying complexity, building high‑performing teams, and aligning technology closely to customer outcomes is already laying the foundations to remain trusted, relevant, and competitive as the landscape continues to evolve.
Customer experience is the battleground, but trust is the moat. What design or technology principle will be most critical to maintaining trust in banking over the next five years?
Nationwide tops trust rankings by consistently prioritising customer outcomes over shareholder returns, delivering fair value, maintaining strong financial resilience, and investing in strong foundational capability. We strive to get the basics right for our customers. It is the efficacy of the mutual model, which uses transparent communication and focuses on customer-first decision making, which reinforces long-term confidence and loyalty. Trust in banking over the next five years will come down to something simple: customers need to understand what is happening and feel in control of it. As AI is used more in areas, it is critical that human insight remains central to ensure the right decisions are made to deliver the best customer outcomes.
At Nationwide, we are already building towards this. We are simplifying and modernising our core systems, and moving to shared platforms and common data so decisions are consistent, transparent, and well governed across the organisation. What this means in practice for customers is better visibility and faster, more reliable services. For example, we are moving towards more real time, event driven experiences such as instant updates, improved payment processing, and smarter analytics. These changes help customers see what is happening with their money, rather than feeling it is hidden behind the scenes.
Digital skills gaps are a systemic risk to transformation. What model of workforce development will actually close the gap at scale by 2030?
Closing the digital skills gap at scale will not come from a single intervention, but from employers thinking more strategically about the workforce of the future, building capability continuously from early careers through to senior leadership. I am really passionate about this topic and in my experience, there are a number of areas of focus, which I am trying to lean into. Primarily, large‑scale reskilling and upskilling of the existing workforce, embedding programmes across the software development lifecycle, with a strong view of the capabilities that are going to take the business forward. The criticality of supporting the permanent workforce and readying them for the future is paramount. When we talk about digital skills, we need to challenge the traditional assumptions of skillsets and start thinking about rounded capabilities, core domain knowledge with a level of business understanding, and how we upskill our colleagues for joined up enterprise working and decision making.
We also have to look at the whole pipeline, thinking about early career entrants, through to creating opportunities for experienced hires. Having structured pathways feeding into the pipeline, is imperative. Within the early‑career stage, vehicles like internships, apprenticeships, and strategic partnerships with feeder institutions are necessary to bring in diverse, job‑ready talent and broaden access into technology. Targeted progression and sponsorship is then critical to ensuring talent not only enters the organisation, but progresses into decision‑making roles. By 2030, the firms that succeed will be those that treat talent as a strategic supply chain, continuously developing skills at scale rather than reacting to shortages.
Transformational leaders are shaped by ideas beyond their sector. What book, philosophy, or thinker outside technology has most influenced how you lead?
I am a voracious reader and tend to draw on ideas from a wide range of thinkers, applying what resonates most in practice. I’m particularly influenced by Peter Drucker’s emphasis on clarity of mission, outcomes, and disciplined execution, which keeps my focus anchored on customer value and trust. His belief that culture ultimately shapes success has also been a constant reference point. That has reinforced my conviction that transformation is fundamentally a people endeavour. Whether modernising core banking or building new digital capability, sustainable success comes from empowering teams, creating accountability, and fostering psychological safety so that people feel confident taking ownership of outcomes.
More personally, one of the books that has shaped my leadership style is ’Be the Leader You Want to See’ by Susie Ramroop. It is a simple, practical read, but it offers powerful perspectives on building confidence and navigating career progression in a way that really stays with you.
Every leader remembers a moment when the work felt deeply meaningful. What’s one “this is why I do it” memory from your career that you still carry with you?
I have had several moments throughout my career where I have felt a deep sense of satisfaction in the work I do. Most recently, delivering the £100 Fairer Share payment to eligible Nationwide members was one of those moments. Seeing the tangible difference it can make to individuals and families is incredibly rewarding. What brings it to life are the personal stories that come back to us. Reading messages from members about how the payment has helped them, often in meaningful and sometimes emotional ways, really reinforces the impact. One example that stayed with me was a family of four who each received the payment and combined it to take their first holiday together. Moments like that make the purpose very real.
What makes this possible is our mutual model. We are accountable to our members, not shareholders, which means we can make deliberate choices to return value directly to them. By continuing to innovate, operate efficiently, and manage our cost base carefully, we can maximise what we give back. I am genuinely proud to be part of an organisation that challenges the status quo on the high street and consistently strives to do the right thing for its customers.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
Reading, walking, cooking, and going to the gym are important ways for me to reset, particularly given the pace and intensity of my role. With a lot going on in the day job, I value activities that allow me to slow down, create some headspace, and recharge.
I am also very much a people person, so I enjoy spending time with family and friends. Whether that is travelling, trying new experiences, or simply making memories together, nurturing those relationships is really important. Alongside this, I am passionate about giving back, particularly in supporting young people and students as they transition into the workplace. I regularly contribute to initiatives that help build confidence, develop practical skills, and create pathways into careers in technology, which I find incredibly rewarding.
What is your biggest goal? Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
My ambition is to help build a modern, resilient, and genuinely customer‑centred banking platform that supports sustainable growth and strengthens trust with our customers. For me, success is not just about delivering transformation, but about leaving behind an organisation with the capability, culture, and confidence to keep evolving long after specific programmes are complete. Over the next five years, I hope to continue contributing at an enterprise level, shaping both strategy and delivery. I’m particularly interested in playing a broader role in how the industry defines “future ready”, as technology, regulation, and customer expectations continue to converge. Just as important is the legacy built through people. I care deeply about developing diverse leadership pipelines, especially supporting more women into senior technology roles, and creating environments where individuals can grow, feel confident in their contribution, and do their best work.
If you could mentor one early-career woman in tech tomorrow, what’s the first lesson you’d teach her about leading with both integrity and ambition?
The first lesson I would teach is that integrity and ambition are not opposing forces, they are mutually reinforcing. Ambition defines where you want to go, but integrity defines how you get there and whether others will choose to follow you. Early in your career, it can feel like you need to compromise one to accelerate the other, but in reality, the most sustainable success comes from being super clear on your values and consistent in how you show up. I would encourage her to be explicit about what she stands for and to use that as her decision framework, especially when under pressure. Ambition should show up as a willingness to step forward, take on hard problems and own outcomes, not as a need to have all the answers or to compete with others. Importantly, I would remind her that leadership is built on trust. Every decision, every interaction, every commitment either strengthens or erodes that trust. If you can combine the courage to aim high with the discipline to act with integrity, you build credibility early and that becomes the foundation for everything that follows.