C-Suite leader Archana Mohan says the best way for buy-side leaders to add value with data is to interrogate their own reasons for using it
By Corinium Global Intelligence
Archana Mohan is Chief Operations and Technology Officer at Navera Investment Management, and a founding advisor at AssetOps. She spoke to Corinium about the value of challenging cultural assumptions embedded in data and technology.
You’ve been with Navera Investment Management for over a decade. How do you balance operational efficiency with maintaining a client-first mindset?
Our operations team is driven by a singular focus: to protect and grow our clients’ capital. Every process, system, and decision is guided by that responsibility. While operational efficiency is essential, we do not define it solely by speed; efficiency is ultimately about effectiveness in achieving the right outcomes, not simply doing things faster.
Sometimes that means delivering reporting seamlessly, other times it means ensuring communication is deliberate, precise, and tailored to a client’s needs. By reducing routine complexity, we create the space to focus on what truly matters. Above all, we approach efficiency with care. Balancing clarity, quality, and timeliness so that we consistently build on the trust our clients place in us.
Your career spans investment communications, product management, client servicing, and now operations and technology leadership. How has this shaped you?
Having worked across communications, product, client servicing, and now operations and technology, I’ve learned to view challenges from multiple perspectives: commercial, relational, and operational. Each role has reinforced the importance of connecting strategy to execution and aligning internal processes with the client experience. Just as importantly, working across these areas has taught me how to adapt, stay flexible, and build knowledge progressively throughout my career.
When leading transformation, I try not to see it simply as a technology initiative or a process redesign; I view it as an opportunity to strengthen how we deliver value to clients. My breadth of experience allows me to translate across functions, anticipate the downstream impact of decisions, and ensure solutions are practical as well as strategic.
I also try to approach transformation with care by fostering connection across teams, paying close attention to detail and context, refracting challenges through multiple perspectives, and creating space for expansion into new ideas. This reflects my broader leadership philosophy: combining empathy, clarity, and continuous learning to make change meaningful and sustainable.
You’re known to lead with human capital at the centre of your decisions. How do empower people to deliver their best work, particularly in a highly regulated and fast-changing industry?
For me, people are not simply a resource. They are the foundation of everything we deliver. In a highly regulated and dynamic industry, it’s easy to let targets and pace overshadow creativity and ownership. My approach is to create an environment where people feel both trusted and supported. That means being clear about guardrails and expectations, while also giving teams the freedom to explore, problem-solve, and innovate within those parameters.
Empowerment, in my view, comes from three things: clarity of purpose, connection to the bigger picture, and confidence that contributions are valued. I focus on building open communication channels, encouraging diverse perspectives, and ensuring recognition is woven into our culture.
This is where empathy and clarity matter most. By listening attentively, setting clear direction, and remaining open to learning from one another, we create a culture where people feel respected, engaged, and able to thrive even in fast-changing circumstances.
You grew up in a multicultural environment and were a special needs coordinator in the New York City school system. How has that influenced your leadership style?
Those experiences shaped my conviction that leadership rests on two pillars: empathy and clarity. Growing up in a multicultural environment taught me to value difference, to listen across perspectives, and to recognise that diversity of thought, when embraced, strengthens collective outcomes. My time as a special needs coordinator reinforced the importance of meeting people where they are, paying attention to individual needs, and creating structures that enable everyone to thrive.
Teaching also taught me something fundamental: the best leaders are always learners. To support students, I had to adapt, remain curious, and refine my approach every day. That lesson carries into my leadership today.
Empathy ensures people feel seen, respected, and connected. Clarity provides direction, consistency, and the framework within which they can excel. Together, and grounded in a commitment to continuous learning and care, they help me bridge divides, foster collaboration, and create environments where people are empowered to bring their best in pursuit of a shared purpose.
With technology and data playing an ever-larger role in investment management, where do you see the greatest opportunities for operations leaders to add value in the next five years?
I believe the greatest opportunities for operations leaders will come from rethinking the questions we ask about technology and data. Too often, the conversation is framed as a race for efficiency. But if we define the challenge only as one of speed, we risk hitting the target and missing the point. The future of operations isn’t about doing the same things faster; it’s about asking whether we are solving the right problems in the first place. Efficiency matters, but direction matters more.
That means asking deeper questions:
These questions shift the focus from efficiency as speed to effectiveness with purpose. Technology and AI will remove much of the routine and repetitive, creating space for leaders to focus on higher-value work, bringing judgment, empathy, and cultural awareness into how systems are designed and how decisions are made.
The real opportunity is to elevate the human intelligences that cannot be automated: the ability to direct attention where it matters most, cultivate awareness of how our choices ripple across clients and communities, and exercise agency to act with clarity and purpose. In practice, this is less about acceleration and more about deepening the qualities that define strong leadership including judgment, intuition, the ability to connect dots across complexity, and the courage to lead through ambiguity.
If we can do that, operations will not only keep pace with technological change, but will also shape a more resilient, equitable, and client-centered future for investment management. Our value will come from insight (how does this apply to what our clients truly need?), strategy (where are we going and how will we get there?), and execution (ensuring our systems and tools deliver the highest-quality outcomes). Most importantly, it will come from bringing the human back into the room.
What motivated you to become a Founding Advisor for AssetOps?
I loved the idea of building a platform to share best practices and human-centered approaches to operations. Sharing best practices while remaining anchored in the belief that doing so makes us all stronger is a mindset I find both inspiring and necessary.
AssetOps creates a community where empathy and clarity meet learning and care: a place where leaders can connect, exchange, and grow together.
Looking ahead to AssetOps London 2026, what are you most excited about?
I’m excited to learn from my peers across the industry, to meet new colleagues, and to hear about initiatives that are gathering momentum. Just as importantly, I look forward to sharing best practices, exchanging ideas, and encouraging others to contribute their perspectives.
What excites me most is the opportunity to build connection: to foster a culture of openness, collaboration, and care that makes us all stronger. By approaching this with empathy, clarity, and a spirit of learning, I believe our community can chart a more resilient and human-centered path for the industry.
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