Viren Kataria Named Future Leader at FinTech Awards 2025

Viren Kataria, appointed Chief Strategy Officer of Imaginera, has received the Future Leader award at the Global FinTech Awards 2025. 

The recognition coincides with his transition to a new executive position at the company, a provider of software solutions for the re/insurance sector. 

Over his career, Viren has contributed to the development of software that improves operational efficiency, data flows, and decision-making processes for businesses in the re/insurance industry. 

His work helps these firms to manage their operations.

Spearheading Organisational Transformation

Viren’s leadership was a component of Imaginera’s evolution from a services-based business to a product-focused company over the past four years.

He headed this change, a multi-year project that reshaped the organisation’s delivery model, with responsibilities including building teams from the ground up.

This task required him to define the structures for these teams, select the software tools they would use, and establish the processes that would govern their work.

The goal was to create a framework that could support a scalable product delivery system for the company’s future.

To ensure a cohesive business, he worked across functions to integrate these new teams. He fostered collaboration between the product-focused units and the existing functions inside the business, seeking alignment on objectives and workflows.

This transformation was not just an operational exercise; it demanded a vision for the company’s direction.

Viren guided employees through the period of change, balancing the introduction of new systems with the needs of the staff. 

This approach to management and inclusion helped deliver the launch of the Orca product and contributed to a more unified organisation. 

His move from Chief Product Officer to Chief Strategy Officer reflects his impact and a wider remit to shape the company’s long-term direction.

As a result of its success, Imaginera has recently been awarded the Financial Consultancy Award. 

The Architectural Foundation of Orca

Over the last decade, Viren has introduced initiatives that have had an effect on the fintech sector, specifically within re/insurance. 

His work on transformation projects was coupled with a role in the foundation of the design of the company’s product, Orca. 

He contributed to forming the concept of how re/insurance technology could function: not as a collection of isolated tools for separate departments, but as a single platform designed to support collaboration across multiple business areas.

Launched in 2020, Orca enables underwriting, claims, policy administration, operations, and management teams to work together. 

In contrast to legacy systems that often treat these teams as standalone units, Orca’s design facilitates a flow of data and provides cross-functional insights. 

This improves efficiency and informs decision-making. The creation of a system this interconnected and flexible represented a departure from some industry norms at the time. 

Viren championed this direction and led internal working groups that shaped the product’s architecture. In these groups, he worked to balance technical feasibility with the business requirements of clients. 

Since the product’s launch, he has continued to shape its evolution, drawing on his knowledge of the market and maintaining relationships with clients to ensure the solution remains relevant.

Cultivating a New Generation of Talent

Alongside his contributions to product development, Viren has mentored professionals who have gone on to create technology solutions themselves. 

He is known within the organisation for investing his time in the development of individuals, supporting them along their career paths. 

He has also played a role in helping people transition into other roles within the company. 

He has demonstrated an ability to identify potential in people, support their learning, and provide guidance as they adapted to new responsibilities. 

Many of the individuals he has guided have since advanced to lead teams themselves. His approach involves direct participation, combining direction with trust and encouragement for his reports. 

By spotting talent, nurturing it, and creating opportunities for others, he has helped foster a culture of growth inside the company. 

This focus on people has multiplied his impact on the industry, extending it beyond the products he has directly managed.