Princeton, N.J. — CitiusTech appointed Dhaval Shah as Acting Chief Executive Officer and Shyam Karunakaran as President as the healthcare technology company prepares for its next phase of growth and AI-led transformation.
Shah, previously Chief Business Officer for the company’s MedTech and Life Sciences markets, assumes the Acting CEO role immediately. Karunakaran, formerly Chief Business Officer for Healthcare Payer & Platforms, will oversee enterprise strategy, markets, growth and execution as President.
The leadership changes come as Chief Executive Officer Rajan Kohli prepares to leave the company at the end of August to pursue other opportunities.
“Over the past two decades, CitiusTech has built a strong and differentiated business, underpinned by deep healthcare expertise, trusted client relationships and an exceptional leadership team,” said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., Chairman of CitiusTech.
Winkenwerder said Shah and Karunakaran, both early employees of the company, currently lead more than 80% of its business and have extensive experience building and scaling operations.
The transition comes as CitiusTech expands its focus on healthcare-specific artificial intelligence and digital transformation. The company said it delivered strong growth in fiscal 2026 and is seeing increasing demand from healthcare organizations for AI-based services.
Shah has been with CitiusTech for more than 19 years and has held several leadership roles, including responsibility for building its MedTech and Life Sciences businesses.
“Our vision to accelerate healthcare intelligence is well and truly underway,” Shah said. “Our focus now is to make intelligence an integral part of how healthcare organizations operate, make decisions and deliver outcomes. We will build on this foundation to establish CitiusTech as a leader in healthcare AI services.”
Karunakaran has spent 17 years at CitiusTech and helped develop the company’s payer and platform businesses.
“The healthcare industry stack is being rebuilt around AI, and CitiusTech is uniquely positioned to win across three layers – the Engineering Layer, the Intelligence Layer, and the Agentic Layer,” Karunakaran said.
Kohli said CitiusTech had strengthened partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem and built a foundation in AI during his tenure.
“It has been a privilege to lead CitiusTech and work alongside such a talented team,” Kohli said. “Dhaval and Shyam are outstanding leaders, and they have my best wishes as they take CitiusTech to even greater heights.”
