Modern CISOs are not just protecting systems; they are safeguarding market confidence: Archana Venugopal, CISO, NCDEX

At the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, cybersecurity is not an adjunct to operations; it is inseparable from the idea of a functioning market. Every trade executed, every price discovered, and every participant who logs in does so on an implicit promise of trust. For Archana Venugopal, Chief Information Security Officer at NCDEX, that promise defines the real scope of her role.

“In a market infrastructure institution like ours, cybersecurity is not a support function. It is a foundational element of market stability and confidence,” she says. The modern CISO, in her view, cannot be boxed into the narrow labels of risk manager or compliance custodian. “I see the role as that of a confidence steward and a strategic enabler.”

That framing is telling. At NCDEX, security is designed not to slow the exchange down, but to allow it to function without interruption in an increasingly hostile ...