Mahesh Viswanathan
About Mahesh
Mahesh is a Partner and founding member of Cygnus Compliance, with over 25 years of deep expertise in regulatory compliance, financial crime technology, and enterprise software delivery. Throughout his career, he has led global teams across sales, marketing, product development, and professional services, driving innovation, operational excellence, and sustainable growth across high-impact client engagements.
Prior to founding Cygnus, Mahesh co-founded Telavance (later ACA Telavance), a regulatory compliance and financial crime advisory firm known for its technical innovation and service excellence. Under his leadership, the firm built a leading practice with over 120 financial institutions as clients and was later acquired by ACA Group. As Partner, he oversaw revenue and operations for the division, with direct responsibility for Sales, Marketing, and Professional Services.
Mahesh led the development and implementation of over 100 financial crime compliance solutions deployed across a global network of financial institutions. He also played a pivotal role in forging strategic alliances with key technology vendors, including FIS (formerly Metavante/Prime Associates) and Actimize, delivering scalable, operationally resilient platforms for high-stakes regulatory environments.
He has held senior leadership roles spanning offshore development, pre-sales strategy, and global partner management. Earlier in his career, Mahesh led complex technology development projects for some of the world’s largest organizations, including IBM, where he directed the creation of a front-office solution for broker-dealers and a fully integrated insurance policy and claims management system.
Mahesh’s experience spans multiple sectors including financial services, e-commerce, and pharmaceuticals. He has worked closely with a wide range of global clients such as CitiGroup, Bank of New York, Bank of China, Nordea, Reuters, KBC Bank, United Bank for Africa, and Wilshire Insurance bringing a reputation for translating complex challenges into strategic, results-oriented solutions.
With a track record of delivering high-impact, enterprise-grade platforms, Mahesh is recognized for his ability to combine technical depth, strategic foresight, and business leadership to solve pressing regulatory and operational challenges.
In his free time, Mahesh enjoys to travel, hike and other outdoor activities. He also enjoys woodworking and cooking.
Education
B.E. Computer Science, Bharathidasan University
Tools
- Actimize
- Bridger
- EastNets
- eGifts
- Fircosoft/Acquity
- FISERV FCRM
- Global Vision
- Oracle FCCM
- Ocean Systems
- FIS – Prime
- SAS
- RegTechOne
- Verafin
- Yellow Hammer
- Proprietary/Custom homegrown/ML System
Expertise
Regulatory Risk & Compliance
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Model risk is a critical subset of operational risk. Unvalidated or poorly calibrated models can lead to compliance failures, missed risk signals, and failed exams. Our validation services help financial institutions meet OCC, FRB, and FDIC expectations while enhancing model performance across AML, sanctions, fraud, and CRR domains.
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Even high-performing models degrade over time. At Cygnus Compliance, we help institutions tune and optimize their monitoring and CRR systems to reduce false positives, sharpen detection, and align with shifting business and regulatory needs.
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We guide institutions through the full lifecycle of implementing and optimizing AML, fraud, and case management platforms ensuring your RegTech investment is operationally sound and regulator-ready.
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We deliver comprehensive, data-driven risk assessments that help institutions identify vulnerabilities, evaluate controls, and satisfy regulatory expectations. Our assessments inform practical, risk-based strategies that enhance program effectiveness.
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Cygnus Compliance Care delivers on-demand regulatory support for critical initiatives, without requiring permanent hires. We embed experienced professionals to support audits, tune systems, clear backlogs, and strengthen compliance operations.
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We help institutions manage alert volume, improve triage, and enhance investigations through intelligent automation and deep compliance expertise. Our managed services reduce false positives, increase efficiency, and deliver regulator-ready outcomes.
Technology Consulting
Advisory & Consulting
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We help institutions transition to cloud environments that are secure, scalable, and compliant.
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Modernize legacy systems and adopt new technologies to meet evolving business and compliance requirements.
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Strengthen your security posture with a proactive, risk-based approach to technology.
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Understand, evaluate, and implement blockchain technologies where it adds value.
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Securely harness the value of connected devices in financial operations.
Product Engineering & Development
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We translate business and regulatory requirements into functional, user-centric products with compliance controls embedded at every stage.
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Whether launching a new RegTech tool or modernizing an internal platform, we manage full-cycle implementation.
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We ensure new tools integrate with your environment, users, and workflows—maximizing adoption and value.
Expertise
Cyber Security
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Timely and coordinated incident response is critical to maintaining business continuity and regulatory compliance. We develop tailored incident response plans, simulate cyberattack scenarios, and support forensic analysis and breach containment when every second counts.
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We implement data-centric protection strategies that secure sensitive information and support compliance with GLBA, CCPA, GDPR, and other regulatory frameworks.
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We help institutions design cloud architectures that prioritize security and regulatory compliance, including risk assessments and remediation of misconfigurations.
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We build identity governance frameworks that enforce least privilege, mitigate insider threats, and strengthen audit readiness.
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We build identity governance frameworks that enforce least privilege, mitigate insider threats, and strengthen audit readiness.
Data Engineering & Analytics
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We develop and operationalize governance programs that establish data ownership, standardization, and defensibility supporting both day-to-day operations and regulatory exams.
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We design AI/ML models to automate triage, enhance detection, and reduce analyst fatigue while maintaining explainability, traceability, and compliance with model governance frameworks.
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We design and implement dynamic dashboards to support transparency, stakeholder engagement, and audit readiness across compliance domains.
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We build normalized, regulator-aligned data models that support investigations, long-term trend analysis, and audit traceability.
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We implement data control mechanisms that continuously monitor quality and alert stakeholders to anomalies before they affect operations or reporting.
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Our dashboards visualize KPIs, KRIs, and risk trends across AML, fraud, sanctions, and KYC domains supporting board reporting and internal audit.
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Timely and coordinated incident response is critical to maintaining business continuity and regulatory compliance. We develop tailored incident response plans, simulate cyberattack scenarios, and support forensic analysis and breach containment when every second counts.
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We enhance your surveillance and onboarding programs with enriched, behavior-informed customer profiles that integrate internal and external data.