Malay Poddar joined General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), Mumbai, as a Generalist Officer in 1986. After initial training in all trades of General Insurance, he joined the GIC Crop Insurance Department and served in six different states as State-In-charge during his stint of 18 years. 

When the Government of India formed Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AICI) in 2003 as a specialty Crop Insurer, he joined AICI in 2004 as Manager. He served AICI for 14 years in various capacities as CFO, Head of Investments, Reinsurance, HR, and became General Manager in 2014. 

In 2018, he moved on to the National Insurance Company (NIC), Kolkata. At NIC, he headed Aviation, Liability, and Miscellaneous lines of business apart from Agriculture Insurance. He led the digital marketing initiative of the Company. 

He joined back AICI on 18th December 2019 as Chairman-cum-Managing Director. 

During his career in Agriculture Insurance, he associated with International Research Organizations, International Development Corporations / Agencies, the World Bank Group, and Reinsurers for Research and Development in Agro-Insurance and Reinsurance and traveled to countries. 

He attended and spoke on Agro-Insurance in International Seminars and Conferences. IFC sent him as a Consultant to set up an Agro-Insurance system in Ghana. Oman Government invited him for a similar assignment. 

He was part of Study Groups/ Committees set up by the Government of India for Agro-Insurance and has served as a Member of the Task Force on NITI Aayog's (National Institute for Transforming India) Committee on Use of Technology in Crop Insurance. 

He is a pioneer in bringing in Satellite Remote Sensing based Agriculture Insurance in the State of West Bengal, India, insuring 6 million small farmers per year at an affordable premium, perhaps the largest, most comprehensive such program anywhere globally. He collaborates with National Remote Sensing Centre - ISRO, driving the use of Remote Sensing Technology in Crop insurance in India to make it inclusive, transparent, and sustainable. 

He is an Agricultural Economics Honours and is a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India