MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI) appointed Kashi Kakarla as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product Engineering, effective June 22. Kakarla will report to Chairman and CEO Henry Fernandez and serve on the company's Management Committee.

Kakarla joins from Intuit, where he spent 17 years in product and platform development roles. He most recently led technology and engineering for the Intuit Small Business Platform and previously worked on transforming QuickBooks into an AI-driven platform. Earlier in his career, he held engineering leadership positions at SiRF and Motorola.

At MSCI, Kakarla will oversee product technology and engineering across all product lines and client segments. The company plans to use AI to transform how clients access and engage with MSCI's content and expand solutions to a broader audience of investment professionals.

Kakarla will establish and lead a new MSCI office in Silicon Valley as an innovation and talent center for the firm's AI and technology initiatives.

MSCI has also established a Technology and Data Committee of the Board of Directors to guide and oversee the company's data and technology transformation strategies. The committee will leverage the technology and AI expertise of board members.

Kakarla holds an undergraduate degree from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka and a master's degree in computer science from the University of Adelaide in Australia.