WHEN NANDAN NILEKANI graduated from IIT Bombay in 1978 with a degree in electrical engineering, he opted for a job. It was an interesting decision. In that era, if you were in your early 20s and armed with a degree from a top institute, going to the US for a Master’s was the norm. A large part of those who stayed back in India chose to do an MBA.
Nilekani did neither.
“Serendipity has played a big role in my career,” confesses the 67-year-old, sitting in his office in the lush green Infosys campus in Bengaluru. On the day of the entrance examination to the Indian Institutes of Management, he fell sick. “Plus, there was no money to go overseas,” says Nilekani, dressed in a blue blazer as he sits down for a chat with Business Today on a warm February afternoon.
At that point, mini-computers were the buzzword. IBM had left India and Patni was reselling the computers of Data General (DG). “That meant a career in minicomputers was exciting,” he explains. It was a decision that would lay the foundation for a remarkable career spanning over 44 years and eventually pave the way for the great Indian IT story. The young man’s incredible journey was all set to start, one which would traverse the private sector, the government, making a huge societal impact and then returning at the helm of the company he co-founded. Nilekani is a multi-faceted personality and his contribution is what has led to him being conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award. He played a key role in ushering in the IT revolution, putting India on the global IT map and, later, had an enviable body of work that would become the solid foundation for Digital India. Today, as Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys, he is still in the
