New Delhi: Headstrong, a global consulting and IT services company with a specialized focus in financial services, has appointed Sandeep Sahai, the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), as the CEO of the company, which will be effective on January 1, 2010. His appointment is designed to cement and accelerate Headstrong's emergence as Wall Street's dominant IT consulting company, in light of the transformation faced by the financial services industry in general, and the securities sector in particular. Sahai will be based at the firm's corporate headquarters in Virginia, USA and takes over from current CEO and erstwhile Co-Founder of the HCL Group, Arjun Malhotra, who will continue as Chairman of the company. "Sandeep had spearheaded our entry into the financial services sector years ago, and I am confident that he will not only ensure absolute global leadership for us in this space, but also transition the company from a medium-sized niche firm to a large outsourcing corporation that will compete with the established global IT behemoths," said Malhotra. Sahai was a Founder and Partner of the IT consulting firm TechSpan that merged with Headstrong in 2003. As President and COO of Headstrong, Sahai directed steady organic growth that doubled the company's revenues and quadrupled profits between 2003 and 2008. Prior to Headstrong and TechSpan, Sahai worked with the HCL Group and later at Skansoft, another firm that he founded. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India.