Piyush Singh Biography

Piyush Singh is currently senior vice-president/chief information officer of Great American Insurance Company and vice-president of its parent company, American Financial Group. He is responsible for creating the vision and direction of Great American’s IT strategy in partnership with leaders within Great American’s business operations who, together, consider current and emerging business trends and the potential of the constantly evolving technology that is becoming an integrated part of the business environment. Singh’s objective is to strategize the direction and execute operationally to take the specialty insurer to the next generation. As an officer of American Financial Group, he provides a collaboration platform for technology standards, directions and strategies to the various Company subsidiaries and affiliates.

Singh has successfully led an ambitious and large scale transformation of Great American Insurance’s operative platform and more importantly, has influenced the philosophy of doing business. This effort has established the company as a leading player in the specialty property and casualty marketplace. His vision has led to a successful transition of the information technology function from custodian of a legacy IT environment to a respected partner that contributes to the success of the businesses it supports. Great American has implemented a modern technology architecture that is leading edge and is adaptive for future growth and business needs. The foundation that is now in place is significant to continued transformation at the workplace and an important cornerstone for ongoing future adaptability.

Singh started his IT career in 1988 as a consultant with Citicorp Overseas Software Limited (COSL) in Mumbai, India. He moved on to ANZ Banking Group and worked in Bangalore, India while being extensively involved on international assignments in Australia, Greece, United Kingdom, Singapore and the Middle East. Thereafter, he joined Price Waterhouse’s Management Consulting Services group in Kingston, Jamaica working on large government contracts and with a local insurance carrier. He joined RLI Insurance in Peoria, IL, USA, in 1994, and moved up the ranks to be the vice president of IT in 2000 and subsequently was promoted to be the chief information officer in 2004. He was responsible for taking RLI form a back-end focused organization to one that deployed technology to its fullest potential, venturing into areas where others did not, and striving for business transformation rather than automation. Singh's simple but effective IT strategy led the company to deploy leading edge front-end application systems.

Singh holds a master’s degree in computer applications from University of Delhi as well as an M.B.A. from Bradley University. He has also attained the CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter) designation and attended the Advanced Executive Education program conducted by AICPCU at Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania.