Ajay Desai is an accomplished intrapreneur with over 27 years of experience creating and scaling impactful initiatives across banking, fintech, and development sectors. Renowned for his “Frugal Innovations for Financial Inclusion (FI4FI)” approach, Ajay has leveraged relationship capital and collaborative models to extend financial services to underbanked communities. His notable contributions include Saakav—a fintech platform addressing the “Missing Middle” credit gap, YES LEAP—a MUDRA loans program overcoming last-mile challenges, YES MONEY—a domestic remittance service for urban migrants, and YES SAMPANN—India’s first bank-led unsecured loans program for microenterprises and women entrepreneurs. At ICICI Bank, he spearheaded the Microfinance Development Team, supporting 168 NGOs in transforming into MFIs. Ajay’s leadership spans senior roles at YES Bank, Samunnati, and Spice Money, as well as founding ventures in inclusive finance. His work continues to bridge financial gaps through innovation, partnerships, and sustainable business models.