Rahul Deshpande

Rahul Deshpande is the executive vice president and global head of Research and Development and the Services Enablement and Transformation (SET) team at Mastercard. Global R&D pioneers’ new products and services, tackles complex challenges, and unlocks opportunities through emerging technologies bringing transformative value to consumers, businesses and governments worldwide. The SET organization strengthens Mastercard’s delivery excellence by modernizing cross-functional operating models and enabling scalable, repeatable ways of working across Services and R&D, ensuring that innovation moves from concept to customer value with clarity, quality and measurable impact. Previously, Rahul served as the chief technology officer at Ethoca, a Mastercard company. He was instrumental in developing solutions capable of preventing chargebacks, combating friendly fraud, and enhancing digital customer experiences through real-time, data-based collaboration. Rahul first joined Mastercard in 2014 and held several positions, including senior vice president of Digital Strategy and vice president of Engineering and R&D. Prior to Mastercard, Rahul held leadership positions across Fortune 500 logistics, supply chain, consulting and technology firms. His contributions in these roles include the development of award- winning applications, intelligent pricing engines and efficient supply-chain networks. As an engineer with a background in industrial electronics, Rahul holds a Master of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as a master’s degree in Computer Science with a specialization in artificial intelligence and genetic programming. Rahul is based in St. Louis and serves on the board of directors for the St. Louis Children’s Museum. In 2022, he was named Executive of the Year by the Asian American Chamber of Commerce.