N S Kannan will now head ICICI Group's life insurance venture. A gold medallist from IIM Bangalore, Kannan started his career 27 years ago with ICICI Bank NSE -0.10 % as a project officer. He has been the Executive Director of the bank since 2009 and has worked across functions that include finance, treasury, corporate legal, operations, risk management, secretarial corporate communication, corporate branding and strategic solutions group. Kannan has served as the Chief Financial Officer of the bank for five years, a position he took over from Kocchar when she moved to the corner office in 2009. Prior to being appointed the CFO, Kannan served as the Executive Director of the life insurance business for five years, a business he was still passionate about while serving as the ED of the bank.