Fifth Third Bank Hires Tata Veteran Pratik Raval as Chief Sustainability Officer: 5 Things to Know

Fifth Third Bank has hired Tata Consultancy Services veteran Pratik Raval as chief sustainability officer. Here are five things to know about Raval's experience and expertise, and Fifth Third's sustainability strategy.

1. Business Scope and Scale: Fifth Third, founded in 1858 as Ba k of the Ohio Valley, is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Revenues were $8.19 billion in 2023, up 4.88% from 2022. The company had roughly 18,724 employees as of 2023.

2. Sustainability Strategy: Fifth Third is striving to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 75% by 2030, compared to 2014, according to the company's 2022 Sustainability Report. We did not spot a Scope 3 or net-zero goal in the report.

In May 2022, the company announced these operational sustainability targets for 2030:

• Purchase 100% renewable power
• Reduce location-based GHG emissions by 75% (previously 25%).
• Reduce energy use by 40% (previously 25%).
• Reduce potable water use by 50% (previously 20%).
• Divert 75% of waste from going to landfills (previously 20% waste reduction goal).
• Reduce paper use by 75% and purchase remaining paper from certified sources.

3. Executive Transition: Raval appears to succeed former Fifth Third Bank CSO Mike Faillo, who exited in July 2023 and joined PwC in September 2023, Faillo's LinkedIn page indicates.

4. CSO Pratik Raval's Experience, Role: Raval previously was partner and head of ESG, sustainability and climate advisory at Tata Consultancy Services -- a major IT and business consultancy. Earlier, he was a senior manager for ESG & operations at American Express, according to The Consulting Report.

5. Executive Perspectives: At Fifth Third, Raval reports to Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer Kala Gibson. In a prepared statement, Gibson said: “Fifth Third’s Purpose is to improve lives and the well-being of its communities. Pratik comes to us with a wealth of expertise in corporate sustainability as a business strategy. I’m confident in Pratik’s abilities to further the Bank’s efforts to create long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders and deliver on our five key sustainability priorities.”

Fifth Third Chief Sustainability Officer: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.