Arul Kumar

Arul Kumar is the Deputy Chief of Enterprise Architecture and Governance at the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), where he leads enterprise-wide technology architecture, platform strategy, and digital product design. Since joining NPCI in 2016 as the Head of UPI Engineering, Arul has played an instrumental role in shaping India’s digital payments backbone, helping scale UPI into one of the world’s largest real-time payment systems.

With over two and a half decades of experience in enterprise architecture, Arul brings a rare blend of deep technical expertise and transformation-first thinking. His leadership has powered the development of secure, high-performance platforms like UPI, BHIM, Settlements, and Fraud Management—enabling billions of monthly sub-second transactions.

He has headed the architecture and development of secure, scalable, and high-performance platforms such as UPI, Settlements, Fraud Management, and BHIM—enabling billions of real-time transactions daily with sub-second latency.

A technologist at heart and an innovator by mindset, Arul has also architected BOLT. This no-code enterprise platform allows business teams to launch services independently, shrinking deployment cycles from months to minutes. His AI-driven platform Neuron infuses intelligence into workflows, driving smarter decisions across enterprise functions. Additionally, he has built scalable frameworks like the Knowledge Hub™ and Solaris Framework™, laying the foundation for modular, API-first ecosystems.

Arul’s expertise spans cloud-native systems, distributed computing, and high-throughput architecture. He is proficient in modern languages including Java, Go, Python, and Rust and has led the modernization of legacy infrastructure using microservices, event-driven design, and containerized deployments. His work has delivered large-scale digital transformations across the insurance and BFSI sectors, leveraging platforms such as Pega, Guidewire, T24, and IBM UNICA.

Arul is widely respected for his ability to align technology with business priorities, balancing scale with agility. Passionate about mentoring future tech leaders and evangelizing open-source solutions, he is known for fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and long-term thinking.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai Kamaraj University.