GFF AI appoints Meenakshi Arekar as chief risk officer

GFF AI has appointed Meenakshi Arekar as Chief Risk Officer, adding a senior executive to its leadership team as it expands its work in enterprise AI governance.

Arekar brings more than 20 years of experience across technology, cybersecurity, risk and resilience, with previous roles at TCS, FIS and Wipro. At GFF AI, she will oversee risk and governance across AI governance, information protection, technology and third-party risk, resilience, and production readiness.

Her remit also includes supporting the company's expansion in Australia, with a focus on financial services and insurance, mining and resources, and higher education.

The appointment comes as companies place more AI systems into core business operations, increasing scrutiny around governance, accountability and resilience. GFF AI wants those controls built into enterprise intelligence systems as organisations move beyond experimentation.

During her time at TCS in Sydney, Arekar led a cross-functional risk and resilience agenda within the capital markets organisation. That work strengthened business continuity and disaster recovery, risk governance, and resilience testing, and contributed to an 80% reduction in operational disruptions over five years.

Across her roles at FIS and Wipro, she worked on governance frameworks, risk visibility, and technology-led change programmes. That background places her at the intersection of business operations, technology systems, and risk oversight, areas that have become more closely linked as AI tools are deployed in operational settings.

Risk focus

GFF AI describes itself as an enterprise intelligence engineering company headquartered in Singapore. Its model spans enterprise intelligence platforms, agentic AI systems, sovereign AI infrastructure, and responsible AI and governance.

The business says it is focused on helping organisations move from digital operations to AI-native operations, with security, governance, resilience, and economic sustainability built into that transition. Arekar's appointment suggests the company sees formal risk leadership as a necessary part of that strategy, particularly for clients in regulated or disruption-sensitive sectors.

Dr Ashish Chandra, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GFF AI, commented on the hire and its relevance to the company's broader plans.

"As AI moves deeper into enterprise operations, governance and resilience can no longer sit outside the architecture of intelligence. They need to be engineered into how intelligent systems are designed, deployed and scaled. Meenakshi brings deep experience across technology, cybersecurity, risk and resilience, which will strengthen our ability to build enterprise intelligence with the right foundations of accountability and trust. Her leadership will also be important as we expand our presence in Australia and engage with enterprises navigating the opportunities and responsibilities of AI adoption at scale," Chandra said.

Australian market

Australia appears to be a near-term commercial priority for GFF AI. Arekar will help develop client relationships, market activity, and local partnerships there, with particular attention to sectors where operational resilience and governance requirements are closely monitored.

Financial services and insurance groups face longstanding obligations around technology risk, continuity, and third-party oversight. Mining and resources businesses increasingly rely on connected and automated systems in production environments, while universities are weighing how to use AI tools in administration, research, and teaching within established governance structures.

Against that backdrop, a stronger risk function may help GFF AI position itself with customers that want AI systems integrated into existing control frameworks rather than treated as stand-alone experiments.

Arekar outlined her priorities in a statement accompanying the appointment.

"AI is moving rapidly from experimentation into business decisions and operational environments where the consequences of failure can be significant. This makes governance, resilience and accountability fundamental to responsible enterprise AI adoption. I am excited to join GFF AI at a stage where these principles are being considered as part of the engineering of enterprise intelligence itself. My focus will be on strengthening the company's risk and governance framework while supporting its growth in Australia, ensuring that innovation and enterprise scale are matched by the right level of oversight, resilience and accountability," Arekar said.