APAC Financial: Powered by Talent, Driven by Technology

Startups often have captivating stories of their business journeys. However, APAC Financial Services offers a unique narrative - a journey focused on its people.

- Manoj

From a modest beginning with just 5 employees and a single office in 2018, 6 years later in 2024, APAC Financial Services grew to 2000 employees – indeed a remarkable growth. The person at the forefront of this expansion of human capital is the company’s Chief People Officer – Sanjay Sharma. The NBFC now has now grown to a network of 175+ branches spread across 6 states, and serves 30,000+ customers. It is committed to addressing the funding needs of underbanked MSMEs in semi-urban and rural India.

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION: SANJAY'S TRANSITION

In the early days, Sanjay Sharma was primarily focused on operations and technology. He helped develop a robust technology infrastructure, particularly creating the loan origination system in-house. After 3 years in this role, Sanjay made a bold career shift into human capital, moving from a world of ‘hardware, software, and AI’ to developing the ‘emotional intelligence’ of human capital.

KICKING OFF RECRUITMENT

Sanjay’s move from CIO to Chief People Officer was a bold one, given his long tenure in technology, operations, and product management. His first challenge was that potential employees were unfamiliar with APAC’s brand and its unique selling proposition. However, thanks to a strong reputation and a talented leadership team, the company has since built a brand with high recall value.

“Securing the right talent was the key challenge when we started,” Sanjay recalls. “We had to rely on the goodwill and reputation of the founding team to attract the first wave of employees.” Rather than using placement agencies, Sanjay and the business teams drove recruitment through personal engagement and networks.