Accelerating the Future of Mortgage Servicing: Suresh V, Vice President of Architecture

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.

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 was born and raised in Chennai, India, and have settled there with my family. I am lucky to live with my grandfather, my parents, my wife, and my two kids. I love taking my family out for long car rides or settling in to watch cricket and movies. I am actively involved in community charities. The ability to give back to my neighborhood is extremely gratifying.   

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

My father has been my role model my whole life. He taught me the values of patience and perseverance that have made me who I am today. Professionally, my colleague Kishor has taught me how to always strive for excellence. This is a rare quality that has allowed me to grow both personally and professionally.  

What is your educational background?  

I did my bachelors in Electronics and Communication engineering at Sathyabama University and later went on to earn my masters in information technology with a Data Science specialization from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science. 

What was your first “real” job?  

My first real job was doing data cleaning and preparation work for a medical transcription service. Even though it lasted only a few weeks, it was a rewarding experience that prepared me for my career.  

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

I have had a range of professional experiences over the past 20 years. I started my career as an embedded engineer working on a car audio product. I later shifted to information technology for large retail and distribution enterprises. From there, I moved to digital commerce and now to mortgage fintech.    

There are several positive experiences that have shaped my career. In 2013, when I was leading the solution architecture for a digital commerce program that was launching a large implementation program in the Cloud. This experience taught me that through the highs and lows of product development, consistent effort will lead to positive results.  

How did you get into mortgage fintech?  

In 2018 I had been in digital commerce for around 8-10 years when I received a call from a mentor of mine at Mr. Cooper. They offered me an opportunity to work on developing a service platform. That experience grew my passion for mortgage fintech and I have been working on building the future of servicing ever since.  

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

As part of the architecture team, my day to day revolves around understanding the business requirements and how it impacts the design of our products. I help build the products that our customers rely on. I am lucky to work and debate with other architects and engineers about the best way to deliver for our customers. This constant collaboration is what makes Sagent the industry leader in mortgage fintech. One of the other key functions in my role is to look for where the industry is heading and how we make our products, including Dara, future-proof when it comes to design and functionality. 

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

The constant challenges of developing a product from scratch, or as we call it a green field product, is both rewarding and challenging. Starting from zero allows us to be creative as we innovate but also presents challenges at every turn. Being on the forefront of key decisions in the building process motivates me to deliver high quality products to our customers.  

Have you had an impactful mentoring experience, either giving or receiving?  

I have been blessed to have had great managers and mentors throughout my career.  My first mentor, Vidhya, taught me the importance of shipping a quality product and how to manage processes to bring results instead of just following it for the sake of compliance. In terms of mentoring myself, I consistently strive to share my experiences and values with my team. This mentorship has helped my team deliver high-quality products that our customers can depend on.  

In your opinion, what is the greatest impact of building cloud-native servicing technology? 

The greatest impact that a cloud native servicing technology can provide is automation through integration of various servicing operations. The industry needs cloud native technology and Sagent is leading the way in developing them. With Sagent suite of products, servicers no longer need to login to multiple systems to perform the end-to-end service operations. They can streamline mortgages and expand their customer reach. 

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

Sagent’s mission is a much needed one for America’s $14 trillion mortgage servicing ecosystem. The mortgage industry is bogged down with complex systems that deliver subpar results and poor customer experience. Sagent’s mission will put the end customer in focus and make the mortgage servicing frictionless. 

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

Without any second thought, respect resonates most with me. Over my 20 years of experience, one lesson that I have learned is being respectful immediately brings trust and openness in any discussions. This leads to a very positive work culture where excellence thrives. 

What is your experience with Sagent’s culture?  

I firmly believe that culture is not merely imparted; rather, it is developed collaboratively by associates through continuous ongoing practice. I am fortunate to have very good peers, leaders and team members who embody values and create an open culture in Sagent today. The team that we have at Sagent makes you excited to go to office every day. My peers make every day interesting as we work to solve complex problems in creative ways.