Sanjay Patel, the new chief executive officer of Equifax Credit Information Services, always wanted to head a financial services firm.
An engineering graduate, Patel started his career with a manufacturing company and has worked mostly with technology firms for the past two decades. “I always had the desire to head a financial services company. Hence, when I was offered this job, the decision was simple,” says Patel, who joined the credit bureau last month after spending five years with Polaris Financial Technology.
Patel joined Voltas in 1991 in the company’s air-conditioning division, before moving to Larsen & Toubro (L&T) four years later. At L&T, he was responsible for sales engineering and gained experience in enterprise resource planning systems. “It made me interested in information technology and I joined Hexaware in 1998,” he said.
After working with Gartner Research and Advisory Services, Datamatics Technologies and GTL, Patel moved to Polaris Financial Technology as vice-president. He became a partner in the technology company and was instrumental in growing its business.
“Sanjay brings to Equifax a wealth of experience in driving growth and productivity gains through strong customer quality programmes, product strategy, customer relationship management, and new business development,” Shahid Charania, chairman of the credit bureau in India, said on Patel’s appointment.
At Equifax, Patel will lead the development and growth of the bureau’s operations in India, across businesses.
Patel grew up in Mumbai and got his engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Industrial Engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.
“I am a true Mumbaikar in that sense. I was born in Mumbai, studied here and spent my entire career working in this city,” he says.
