To lead company’s aggressive strategy to achieve triple digit growth
Headstrong, one of the world’s leading IT consulting firms in the financial services industry today announced the appointment of Sandeep Sahai, President and Chief Operating Officer, as CEO of the company effective January 1, 2010. Sandeep will be based at the firm’s corporate headquarters in Virginia, USA and takes over from current CEO and erstwhile co-founder of the HCL Group, Arjun Malhotra, who will continue as Chairman of the company.
Sandeep’s appointment is designed to cement and accelerate Headstrong’s emergence as Wall Street’s dominant IT consulting company, in light of the transformation faced by the financial services industry in general, and the securities sector in particular.
"Sandeep had spearheaded our entry into the financial services sector years ago, and I am confident he will not only ensure absolute global leadership for us in this space but also transition the company from a medium-sized niche firm to a large outsourcing corporation that will compete with the established global IT behemoths," said Arjun.
"While competitors are reducing their exposure to financial services, we continue to invest aggressively in chosen verticals, given the deluge of regulatory changes and the continual emergence of new financial products," said Sandeep.
Headstrong’s strategy continues to focus on helping clients transform their fixed-cost structures to variable ones. Headstrong recently acquired mortgage processing company Lydian Data Services, making it a leading provider of correspondent loan fulfillment services. The acquisition of boutique firm iXPartners additionally boosted capabilities in middle and back-office operations to asset management institutions. Globally, the company today has close to 3000 employees spread across 19 offices in 8 countries. Headstrong’s India operations include 1500 employees and development centers in Noida, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Headstrong specializes in “domain-led” consulting services, focusing on niche verticals in financial markets including asset management, derivatives, wealth management, prime brokerage, reference data, compliance and mortgages. Services range from strategy consulting to application development and maintenance to operations outsourcing in its stated areas of expertise.
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Sandeep Sahai, 46, was a founder and partner of the IT consulting firm TechSpan that merged with Headstrong in 2003. He held a number of positions at Headstrong, including President of the Financial Services business. He was elevated to Chief Operating Officer in 2006. As President and COO, Sandeep directed steady organic growth that doubled Headstrong’s revenues and quadrupled Headstrong’s profits between 2003 and 2008. He also architected a multi-year strategy that saw Headstrong evolve from having an onsite-offshore delivery model to a globally distributed outsourcing approach and eventually to a platform-based managed services model.
Prior to Headstrong and TechSpan, Sandeep worked with the HCL group and later at Skansoft, another firm that he founded. Sandeep is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife, Anu and two daughters, Rashi and Rhea.
About Headstrong
Headstrong (www.headstrong.com) is a global consulting and IT services company with a specialized focus in financial services. In particular, it is the world’s leading offshore outsourcing company for the capital markets and securities industry.
With a nearly 30 years track record of proven results and 2008 revenues of $180 million, Headstrong’s model of specialization in the financial industry has yielded sustained year-on-year growth in earnings, profitability and market recognition. Headstrong operates in 8 countries, with close to 3000 employees. Outsourcing services are provided from offshore centers at Noida, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Manila and ‘near-shore’ centers in Atlanta, Boca Raton and Long Island.
