Fearlessly Leads Team Sagent | India + Shares Her Role Models & Favorite Travel Destinations – Aruna Perumal, Head of HR, India

In this series, we’re focused on the humans who make up Sagent. We’re fortunate to have a team that is constantly evolving – both professionally and personally – folks from all over the world who bring a variety of experience, education, and perspectives to advance our challenging mission. We’re excited to introduce you to some of these talented people who make Sagent a vibrant, productive community. 

Where did you grow up?  

I grew up in Bangalore, the neighboring state to Chennai, where I live and work now. I went to school and had my first job there. I lived there for 25 years before I got the travel bug and began to travel around India, where I held jobs and lived in multiple different states.  

Tell me about your family, pets, where you live, and anything else you’d like to share about your life to help people get to know you.  

I think I have finally found my home in Chennai, a coastal city in Southeast India. I am very close to my family, including my siblings and especially my parents who are now retired. I have two sisters; one is an engineer and the other is a teacher. My husband is an entrepreneur in the manufacturing sector. I do not have a pet now, but I have fond memories of my first pet Randy, a Pomeranian. 

What are your hobbies?  

I love to get in my car and drive around the different states of India with my husband. I am proud to say I have been to most parts of the states. My favorite places to visit are those deep in nature with mountains and waterfalls. I find it very important to get out of the city of Chennai and connect with nature.  

Do you do any volunteer work or have a soft spot for any charity in your community?  

Yes, I am a monthly sponsor of UNESCO, and I mentor local IT students in my community. When I retire it is my dream to volunteer at the blind and deaf school. I have recently started learning braille, which, while challenging, I have found very enjoyable.  

What are your favorite movies, music, or TV shows?  

I enjoy a mix of Western and Indian movies and music. My favorite movie of all time is Roman Holiday. It was the first movie I watched awestruck, and I fell in love with the lead actress Audrey Hepburn – as I know many others did as well. To this day, it still holds a special place in my heart. I also love the movie Me Before You, and how it carefully takes different perspectives into account. My favorite Tamil movie is Thiruvilaiyadal because it features my dad’s favorite actor.  

My favorite type of music is pop. I especially love Alicia Keys and her song That Girl is on Fire. My favorite Indian singer is S. P. Balasubrahmanyam who recorded more than 40,000 songs during his five-decade career. We enjoy listening to him together during our travels.  

Do you have a role model? If so, tell me about them.  

My personal role model is my dad, he has been very motivating to me since I was a child. I believe his words and encouragement are a big part of why I have achieved what I have in my life, especially in my career. I have several professional role models – who all happen to be strong female leaders. I enjoy reading interviews or biographies of leaders and learning about their childhood and their journey to get to where they are today. I recently read Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming and was motivated by her story and how she was able to support her family while also making a career for herself. I am also very inspired by Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo who is from Chennai. I find her origin and education story very relatable. Finally, I am in awe of Jayaram Jayalalitha, a very successful politician in India. I take guidance from her strong administrative skills.  

What is your educational background and first “real” job? 

I earned an MBA in human resources and Finance from Bangalore University. I was recruited right out of college to work for one of the largest tech companies in the world. I worked on private acquisitions in this role and really developed my love for IT, where I have spent the rest of my career. I also completed a one-year Senior Management program at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) in 2019.  

Tell me more about your career journey. Highlight a particularly positive or negative experience and what you learned from it.  

I consider myself to have had a very fortunate career journey after being in the IT industry for 22 years and working for seven employers. I really enjoy working in HR, particularly finding candidates who are the perfect fit for the roles I am hiring for. The most challenging but rewarding parts of my career have been the two mergers and acquisitions that I have experienced. These are often emotional and trying times for the employees of both companies and I have found it can be difficult to get a large group of employees used to new workflows all at once while meeting the demands of the higher ups. While these experiences have been challenging, I feel encouraged that I can withstand significant challenges in my career – because I proved it by successfully managing these mergers.  

The most learning  experience I have had during my career was during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when employers were reckoning with the tough decision of whether to switch to work from home or stay in person. I felt very confident that it was the right choice to work from home, but I had to convince leaders of this because they were working toward sales goals which would be impacted by a shift to a work-from-home model. Ultimately, the decision was forced when many of my colleagues began to get sick. But that situation taught me what a challenge it can be to advocate for associates, especially when decision makers have conflicting priorities. 

How did you get into mortgage fintech?  

I have been working in fintech since 2019, but I knew that it was an industry that I wanted to be a part of since the early 2000s when I recognized that it would quickly become the industry of the future. I joined Sagent in the beginning of 2023 because the goal to modernize and revolutionize America’s $14 trillion servicing industry really resonated with me and my personal vision for the future of fintech.  

What does your “day to day” look like in your role at Sagent?  

I would describe my day-to-day at Sagent as firefighting and organizing the chaos. Sagent recently refined our objectives and key results, and I am responsible for helping to ensure we can meet thesse ambitious targets. My HR position is somewhat unique in that I get to split my time between working with business leaders to meet goals and with associates to help them integrate into team Sagent and work with them through any challenging times.  

What is it about your job that motivates or challenges you?  

I strongly believe that to be an effective HR leader you must be strongly aligned with business leaders to achieve your collective goals. At Sagent, we have big commitments to ourselves and our industry in 2025 – goals which we will meet by working together.  Sagent, is a special place because we have business leaders who are strong supporters of the work of the HR department. This alignment is why we can move forward so quickly in our goal to transform mortgage servicing, even when we are under tight deadlines.  

What excites you about Sagent’s mission to lead the evolution in loan servicing by solving its most complex challenges?   

I am very excited about the impact that Sagent’s modernization of servicing will have on homeowners. I know that Dara Loss Mitigation is going to significantly ease the burden on homeowners going through challenging times. At the end of the day the product needs to solve the customer’s problem and that is exactly how we approach our platforms and every interaction with our customers at Sagent. Additionally, I am excited to see the decreased servicing costs that we are seeing with modernized technology. This is going to be a game-changer for the industry! 

When you think about Sagent’s values of “Relentless, Relevant, and Reliable” which of those resonates with you most?  

I really resonate with all three of Sagent’s core values but if I had to choose one, it would be relentless. I would not be where I am in my career today if I was not willing to try and fail and try again.  

What is your favorite thing about working for Sagent?  

My favorite thing about working for Sagent is the amazing group of people that I get to work with. I love coming to work every day and getting to hear their stories and their expertise. It really is a special thing. It can be hard trying to create history in this industry, but I know my amazing colleagues and I will be able to do just that. 

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