Introduction

Navi is a rapidly scaling financial services company in India, offering a wide range of digital-first products, including Personal Loans, Home Loans, UPI payments, Insurance, Mutual Funds, and Digital Gold. With a mission to make financial services simple, accessible, and affordable, Navi leverages its in-house AI/ML capabilities, deep technology stack, and product-driven approach to craft seamless customer experiences. The company’s focus on innovation and user-centric design continues to redefine how Indians access and manage their finances.

Problem Statement

As Navi’s UPI transaction volume surged, the company quickly cemented its first-mover advantage in offering credit over UPI: a space poised for explosive growth. With this strategic edge, Navi is well-positioned to outpace competitors and establish itself as a dominant player in the UPI ecosystem.

However, rapid scale brought its own challenges. Navi faced critical gaps across multiple dimensions: limited senior leadership, low brand awareness, disconnect between product and engineering teams, and lack of robust software quality and organisational structure. While the engineering team had strong young talent, the absence of experienced senior engineers and managers led to operational inefficiencies and siloed decision-making.

Initially, Navi aimed to onboard a CTO to drive strategic tech direction. However, after reassessing their organisational priorities, they pivoted towards hiring a Head of Engineering, someone who could take a hands-on leadership role across product verticals and bring immediate structural and executional impact. The mandate called for a leader with 15+ years of experience, an IIT pedigree, and proven expertise in managing high-performing engineering teams at scale.

Solution & Execution

After a detailed analysis of Navi’s requirements, we identified Gaurav Lahoti as the ideal fit. Gaurav brought a rare blend of entrepreneurial experience, product thinking, and technical depth. As the Co-founder and CTO of Khatabook, he had scaled the engineering function from scratch and led core functions across Engineering, Data Science, IT, and InfoSec compliance. Prior to this, he had co-founded the Edtech venture, Genius Learning Labs, where he served as CTO and was instrumental in envisioning, architecting, and building a suite of web-based tools and learning platforms.

What set Gaurav apart was his ability to blend hands-on execution with a deep understanding of business operations. Our proprietary Behavioural Metrics Model (BMM) identified Gaurav as an Early Nurturer, who thrives in building from ground zero, fosters alignment across cross-functional teams, and drives innovation in fast-paced environments while cultivating a strong engineering culture. Beyond the leadership search, we also facilitated compensation consultation between Navi and Gaurav to ensure alignment on expectations and long-term fit. The mandate was successfully closed within 90 days.

Way Forward

Recognising Navi’s scale and vision, Gaurav stepped in to lead a 350–400-member engineering team. Backed by his entrepreneurial mindset and hands-on approach, he’s well-positioned to build a strong tech foundation and drive Navi’s next phase of growth in the digital financial ecosystem.

For more information, please reach out to the Marketing Team