About Paul Sarvadi

My Mission Is To Help Businesses Succeed So Communities Prosper

Author, Chairman and CEO of Insperity revolutionizing the world of HR.

At age twenty-nine, entrepreneur Paul Sarvadi had an epiphany:

A company’s success depends on five key areas: finance, sales, operations, technology and people.

By this point, he had already launched several businesses, but had yet to find his niche. What he learned in those early years of his career, however, proved to be invaluable.

“What struck me as astonishing was the fact that the success of the first four areas depends on execution by the fifth—the people,” Sarvadi says. But many small and midsize companies didn’t have the bandwidth or expertise to fully capitalize on this vital asset.

So in 1986, Sarvadi co-founded a company to help these businesses achieve success by making the most of their human capital. The company, called Insperity, would specialize in human resources (HR) for small and midsize companies. Eleven years later, he took the company public, and today Insperity has over $5 billion in revenue. Sarvadi, chairman and CEO, has remained at the helm throughout the company’s thirty-six years.

Today, that industry is estimated to generate more than $136 billion in gross revenue. Insperity is based on a philosophy that values people above all. Among the key tenets are that businesses should hire people for their input (i.e., their creativity and talents), and should recognize the value of how each individual contributes to the success of the whole.

That’s especially important in the middle market.

“In small and midsize companies, every person needs to be a game-changer, because there are
not that many people,” says Sarvadi.

Career Highlights

  • Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Insperity since its inception in 1986.
  • Insperity President from 1989 until August 2003.
  • Attended Rice University and the University of Houston.
  • Served as President of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (“NAPEO”) and was a member of its Board of Directors for five years.
  • In 2001, Sarvadi was selected as the 2001 National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® for service industries.
  • In 2004, he received the Conn Family Distinguished New Venture Leader Award from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.
  • In 2007, he was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
  • In 2019, Sarvadi received a Silver Stevie® Award in the category of Lifetime Achievement Award – Business Services Industries from The American Business Awards® program 
  • In 2019, he was recognized by Houston Business Journal as one of the Most Admired CEOs 
  • In 2019, he authored best-selling book Take Care of Your People 
  • In 2023, he co-authored book Making Differences Work with Dr. Eli Jones