Nandan Nilekani (BTech 78)

by Sanghamitra and Abheek Gupta

Article mirrored from http://www.iitb.ac.in ... click here for InsIghT magazine in Mumbai

Nandan Nilekani is currently Managing Director of Infosys Technologies. He started off Infosys Technologies at a time when Infotech was not so big in India. A graduate from IIT Bombay in 1978, Nandan Nilekani was working for Patni Computer Systems where he met a bunch of like-minded people including Mr.Narayana Murthy in the software division. Together they felt that they could set up a professionally owned and managed global software company functioning from India. They took the plunge by leaving PCS in 1981 and pooling in 10,000 rupees to create a globally respected software company something that was not the norm in 1981.

I: What’s the work culture like in Infosys ?

NN: We believe in the knowledge based industry of which software is an integral part, Here we can’t talk of hierarchies and closetedness . We need an open culture where people are free to express their views,thoughts and ideas because the best ideas don’t always come from the top guys. So we endeavoured to create an environment where innovative ideas are welcome and pooling of thoughts is the order of the day. If you come to our campus at Bangalore, you’ll feel its like IIT because its a big campus with a gym and libraries. Its quite a good environment and I think Software Industry has to be a place where the environment is conducive to creativity.<br>

I: About your recruitment philosophy?

NN: We recruit lots of IITians and from the RECs, IIMs ,Chartered Accountants,because we’re getting into a lot of business oriented software development When we recruit IITians we don’t look for people specifically from the Comp.Sc.dept..we take people from many disciplines. We have our own test to see if people have the aptitude for Software Development. What are the things we have to look for ? We have found an empirical relation between aptitude and performance in our industry. There is a high co-relation between selection and quality of performance.We also have our own Infosys University within the campus....with a 33 member faculty many of whom are ex-profs. from IIT. There, we run intensive training programs and classes for the recruits and that prepares them for the challenges ahead. <br>

I: Regarding the expansion of Infosys, how do you envisage it as a global organisation?

NN: Already, 95% of our revenue comes from the global market so in essence our customers are global. If you look at our investor base, 20% of our equities are held by global investors and we’re in the process of listingour stock on the NASDAQ, the US Stock Exchange. When that happens, we’ll be the first Indian company to have achieved this.With that we become a part of the global investors. The other part of globalisation is having global employees. We already have 17 offices all over the world. We’re setting up more development centres all over the world. We’ll be recruiting Indiansand local people. All these aspects make it a global concern.<br>

I: What is the Technology Thrust of Infosys right now ?

NN: Identify any upcoming areas for expansion.The emerging areas we see are e-commerce and banking. A lot of companiesare restructuring their entire business process so as to avail of all the possibilities and potentialities of e-commerce - Business to busines and business to consumer. Another area is package implementation.A lot of people don’t develop software as packages and then integrate them together. These are some of the areas we are concentrating on. We have a foot in many other areas too since we cannot predict which will boom or how the markets will behave.

I: Management philosophy behind the treatment given to the employees ?

NN: Software is all about people.Its success or failure depends on people. Sowe should have a high level of commitment and motivation, feeling part of the company is very important, so they must have both emotional and financial equity in the ownership of the company.The employees should participate in the wealth creation of the company thus 10% of the stock is held by the employees. Stock options are very lucrative ..we try to create mass employee wealth as far as possible.

I: Will there be a slump after Y2K ? Will IT still be as important ?

NN: Right now the industry is booming ..we need to make the best use of all the people we have. And we want peple to build a long term relationshipwith the company. No, I don’t think there will be a slump at all, considering that there has been a fundamental change in the way technology is being used. Every business and social activity is being backed by technology. We’re seeing a change in the way economies andsocieties function.<br>

I: Brain Drain ? How do you propose to prevent it

NN: We have about 11% attrition rate. A lot of people come in from IITs and after a couple of years they want to do their MBAs, and MTechs and hence they leave,and of course there are quite a few people who just want to go abroad. You can’t force people to stay back and we don’t want to either. Our focus is on creating a good environment to work and to providethe best job satisfction and wealth creation opportunities to them. After that it for the the employees to decide for themselves.The quality of the work out here is improving everyday and its much more satisfying. Hence I believe this trend will soon stop.

I: Student Industry Interaction ?

NN: We have tried to do various programs with the IITs and IIMs. We have a visiting professor scheme where your prof.s spend some days with us. We also send some students for doing part time programs.But there is a lot of scope for improvement.We are sponsoring 26 scholarships at the IITs, IIMsand IISc.<br>

I: Any fond memories of IIT?

NN: I spent the best years of my life here. I was in H-8, and it was great.So I attribute a lot of importance and respect for the time I spent here.I was G.Sec Cult and organised MOOD-I. Such activities helped a lot to improve my organisational skills.

I: How do you envisage the future of IITs ?

NN: IITs do remain the centres of excellence in the country. All of us have the responsibility of ensuring that we maintain them so. While the students and faculty are terrifc it might be difficult in maintaining thestandard due to reduction in Govt funds. Over time IITs should becomeself-sufficient with the money coming from alumni and project work.

I: Are you satisfied with the way the Institute interacts with its alumni ?

NN: No.A lot more can be done.If you look at the west , the univ.s out thereare very aggressive with respect to keeping track of their alumni. Hereit’s not just a problem with the Institute, but also with alumni. The are about 25000 graduates from IITB alone many of whom are in veryinfluential positions. I think it’s high time we tapped this resourceful network.

I: Any message for us ?

NN: I’m very optimistic about the future, there are a lot of wonderful opportunities out there. Anybody who is lucky enough to get an IITeducation is can do very well in life. So do well!