Our Board of Directors

Thought Leaders

Our board of directors are thought leaders in their respective areas of business and demonstrate a wide range of experience, competencies and perspectives. They are passionate about our current strategies and help us navigate through the dynamic environment.

S R Iyer Chairman

S R Iyer is the former Managing Director of the State Bank of India and the First Executive Chairman of the Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL). He is also a member of the Investment Committee of National Dairy Development Board and Chairman of the Infrastructure Finance Credit Committee of Aditya Birla Finance Ltd.

Soumya Rajan Founder, Managing Director and CEO

As the founder of Waterfield Advisors, Soumya brings over 25 years of financial services experience. She has advised several of India’s leading business families on issues related to the success and continuity of their family enterprise, including managing their family investments, succession transitions, mentoring the NextGen, corporate and family governance, conflict resolution, business strategy and philanthropy.

Read More

Prior to founding Waterfield, Soumya worked at Standard Chartered Bank India for 16 years, where her last assignment was heading their Private Banking Division from 2008 to 2010. Her experience in banking is across a wide range of areas, covering Risk Management, Consumer Banking and Private Banking.

Soumya serves on the Board of several non-profit organizations, having served as Vice-Chair of Reach to Teach, a charity focused on primary education for disadvantaged children in India; as an Advisory Board Member of Peepul, a charity focused on creating a school transformation platform for government schools; on the Advisory Council of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar’s Research Park and Entrepreneurship Centre, and as a Board Member of CSTEP, a research think tank that recommends public policy on the use of new emerging technologies for social and economic development in the areas of energy, environment and infrastructure.

Soumya also serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Aavas Financiers, a listed company, engaged in the business of providing housing loans, primarily to the un-served, unreached and under-served segments in India.

Soumya was recognized in 2019 as amongst India’s Top 100 Women in Finance. She completed a Masters in Mathematics from Oxford University, U.K and a B.A (Hons) in Mathematics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Sanjay Teli Co-Founder and Director

Sanjay Teli is the Founder and Managing Director of the ESP Group, prior to which he has had a decade long working association with the HDFC group, Sterling group and Eureka Forbes. Career choreography is Sanjay’s core competency for senior level executives and is known for his knowledge and assessment capabilities.

Amit Patni Director

Amit Patni is the promoter shareholder of Patni Computers. He is also the Co-founder of RAAY Investments (a Single Family Office), Chairman at Nirvana Venture Advisors (Digital and Internet Venture Fund), Co-founder and Partner of Elysium Investment Advisors (a hedge fund) and Co-founder and Partner of The Hive-India (Big Data incubator).

Arihant Patni Director

Arihant Patni is the promoter shareholder of Patni Computers and the Managing Director of Patni Financial Advisors (a family office for the Patni Computers family). He is the Managing Director of Ideaspring Capital, a early stage fund focusing on enterprise technology, Co-Founder of Nirvana Venture Advisors (Digital and Internet Venture Fund) and Co-Founder of The Hive-India (Big Data Incubator).