Salil Hajarnis Joins Poonawalla Fincorp As CTO

Poonawalla Fincorp Ltd. announced the appointment of Salil Hajarnis as its chief technology officer, effective Dec. 10, 2024. This follows the company's earlier announcement in September regarding his selection for the role by the Board of Directors, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

This comes on the heels of Dhiraj Saxena, the ex-CTO of Poonawalla Fincorp resigning due to alleged harassment by the company's Chief Human Resources Officer. Saxena submitted his resignation on Sept. 6 and officially vacated his office on Dec. 3, as disclosed by the company in a statement to the stock exchanges.

In his resignation letter, Saxena cited "harassment and unnecessary interventions" from the CHRO, which he claimed hindered his ability to effectively manage the IT function.

He expressed that this situation had caused significant unrest within the IT team, affecting delivery outcomes. Saxena further stated that despite his best efforts to collaborate, the interactions did not align with the company's HR policies.

Saxena's resignation and Hajarnis' appointment came amid a series of management changes at the non-banking financial company, with Arvind Kapil (formerly in HDFC Bank), joining as the new managing director and chief executive officer in June 2024.

With over 20 years of experience in technology leadership, Hajarnis' career spans roles in enterprise architecture, artificial intelligence integration, and software engineering.

At Fiserv India Pvt., where he served as head of technology for India, Hajarnis led projects across India, ASEAN, and Australia, as per the exchange filing. His work included AI-driven solutions, API-enabled platforms, and large-scale modernisation initiatives. Prior to Fiserv, he held senior leadership roles at Capgemini.

Shares of Poonawalla Fincorp. rose as much as 1.99% to Rs 367 apiece, the highest level since Nov. 29, 2024. It pared gains to trade 0.28% higher at Rs 360.85 apiece, as of 11:41 a.m. This compares to a 0.12% advance in the NSE Nifty 50.

The stock has fallen 16.47% on a year-to-date basis. The relative strength index was at 49.72.

Of the eight analysts tracking the company, four maintain a 'buy' rating, one recommends a 'hold' and three suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month analysts' consensus price target implies a downside of 15.1%.