Mr. Sanjay Agarwal is the Founder, MD & CEO of AU Small Finance Bank. A first-generation entrepreneur and a merit-ranking Chartered Accountant, Mr. Agarwal brings over three decades of strategic leadership and executive experience to the financial sector. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Government College, Ajmer, and possesses deep domain expertise across Banking, Finance, Risk Management, Rural Economics, and Business Strategy. 

In 1996, Mr. Agarwal founded AU Financiers with a mission to bridge the credit gap for small-scale entrepreneurs and underserved populations in rural and semi-urban India. Under his visionary leadership, the institution underwent a historic transformation in 2017 to become AU Small Finance Bank. Today, it stands as India’s largest small finance bank, recognized for setting industry benchmarks in financial inclusivity and operational agility. 

Renowned for his execution-oriented approach, Mr. Agarwal has fostered a corporate culture rooted in business excellence and superior performance. He has been instrumental in elevating the Bank’s standards of corporate governance, ensuring robust transparency and high-level engagement with global stakeholders. 

His contributions to the industry have earned him numerous prestigious accolades, including the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (2018), ET Now’s Innovative Leader of the Year, and the Business Leader of the Year award from the ICAI. He has also been honored as the ET Gamechanger of India (2019) and recognized as the Personality of the Year (Finance) at the Rajasthan Entrepreneur and Excellence Awards.