25 Global indians: who shaped Indian IT

Vinod Khosla

Hot Hands

Vinod Khosla was once described by The Wall Street Journal as having the hot
hand in the Silicon Valley right now. Today, he is, undoubtedly, among the
Valleys hottest VC hands, funding new companies to help develop new
technologies and innovation.

This co-founder of Sun Microsystems, upon turning VC in 1987, has been
instrumental in nurturing numerous start-ups, ranging from multimedia,
semiconductors, Internet software, and computer networking. Among the notable
companies hes helped found include NexGen (bought by AMD), Excite, Juniper
Networks, Cerent (bought by Cisco), and the latest in the line being in the
areas of clean technology and biofuels as he turns Ethanol fuel evangelist.

After Daisy Systems, Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems. Sun's $150 bn market
capitalization in 2000 made it the largest Indian-founded corporation.

CK Prahalad

Knowledge Guru

Regarded as one of the most influential thinkers on strategy in the current
times, CK Prahalad is today the acknowledged #1 management guru. While bringing
him acclaim in the world of business, his provocative management ideas are
shaping up corporate strategies of some top notch firms, and influencing the
business landscape.

CK Prahalad of the Bottom of the pyramid fame, in what can be termed among
his most creative management ideas, sees the worlds poor as a potential
untapped market for companies, worth anything up to $13 tn a year.

Prahalad is currently Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished Professor of
Strategy at University of Michigan.

Kanwal Rekhi

The Entrepreneurs Muse




It is people like Kanwal Rekhi who make the Silicon Valley what it is, the tech
entrepreneurs mecca. Actively helping young entrepreneurs get started, Rekhi
embodies the spirit of the Silicon Valley in its true sense. An inspiration for
the whole generation of tech entrepreneurs, he is the chairman, Board of Trustee
of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs, an organization that he founded with other
entrepreneurs to promote young entrepreneurs.

Having been laid off thrice during his early career, he went on to become a
success story as he came to be recognized for a penchant for launching and then
selling his own start-ups and making millions out of them. He has been involved
with over fifty start-ups in the Silicon Valley and founded the computer
networking company, Excelan, in 1982. He was instrumental in listing the company
on the NASDAQ in 1987, and then driving the merger with Novell in 1989.

Dr Arun Netravali

The Patents Man

Pioneering in the area of digital communications technology, he has applied his
work to image processing and digital video, and earned patents relating to
computer networks, human interfaces to machines, picture processing and digital
television, etc. Dr Netravalis contributions have helped transform television
from analog to digital.

He has served as president of Bell Labs and as CTO and chief network
architect for Lucent. He was instrumental in improving Bell Labs R&D
productivity by 40%, with the patent rate climbing to four per day and numerous
leading-edge products introduced in wireless, optical and data communications at
record speeds. Among his significant contributions has been leading the R&D of
Bell Labs' HDTV initiative.

Padmasree Warrior

Woman on Top




Being among the handful of the high-ranking Indian-American women in the field
of technology in the US is no mean achievement. She was also the highest-ranking
female executive in Motorola's nearly 80-year history till not so long back when
she decided to move to Cisco as executive VP and CTO.

In her new role at the technology forefront of Cisco, she will be guiding the
networking giants technology vision. Her over two decades long stint at
Motorola, where she led a team of over 4,600 technologists, will stand her in
good stead.

Arun Sarin

A Wide Spectrum

Arun Sarin, chief executive, Vodafone, is one of the frontrunners in the race of
global Indians making it to the top echelons of leading global companies, still
continuing to lead the charge and making a big success out of them. Sarin has
been doing that and more as he continues to expand the business, now getting
closer to home, buying a 67% stake in Hutch.

A prominent figure in the wireless industry, he has been instrumental in
influencing the industrys global growth and expansion. Sarin is credited with a
sharp eye for the preparation and financial analyses for business mergers and
acquisitions in the growing telecommunications industry. Added to his financial
acumen is his technical knowledge and keen sense of business strategy, which is
behind his meteoric rise up the ladder into top management.

Vinod Dham

Chipping New Paths




There perhaps might have been no Intel Pentium Processor had there been no Vinod
Dham. And, what better time to realize the significance of his contribution than
now when Pentium has more than proved its worth and become the hallmark of the
processing world. Therefore, it is quite appropriate that he is often referred
to as the father of the Intel Pentium Processor.

He left Intel in 1995, and joined a number of startups including NexGen,
which was acquired by AMD, where he helped the company give stiff competition to
its arch rival Intel, with its K6 micrprocessor. Thereafter he joined Silicon
Spice. As Dham had once reportedly said, Living in the Silicon Valley, if you
do not do a startup, then something is wrong with you.

Sabeer Bhatia

The Young Icon

From a Bangalore whizkid to the posterboy of Indians with Silicon Valley
dreams, Sabeer Bhatia has been an inspiration for a whole generation of Internet
entrepreneurs. After all, not every 28-year-old gets Bill Gates to show interest
in buying his/her company; finally walking away with a plush $40 mn. He
democratized the email at a time when the concept of the ubiquitous Web-based
email service was hitherto unknown, and revolutionized the entire communication
paradigm in the new world of Internet.

Success begets success, but it eluded his next venture, Arzoo, which shut
down during the dot com bubble burst though it was relaunched in 2006 as a
travel portal.

Rajat Gupta

Business Strategist

Rajat Gupta is one of the foremost business strategists of the global age. This
former McKinsey head has a broad range of consulting experience ranging across
industries like telecommunications, energy, and consumer goods. In 1994, when he
was elected CEO of McKinsey, he was among the first Indians to successfully
break through the ceiling.

Even as he continues to be senior partner worldwide at McKinsey, hes
involved himself with several non-profit institutions focused on education,
health and development. Gupta is credited with holding senior positions at the
World Economic Forum and the UN where he has been special adviser to the then
secretary-general, Kofi Annan, on management reforms.

Shantanu Narayen

Making a Mark




Shantanu Narayen is a recent addition to the list of Indians reaching the peak
in the global business world. Though hes recently taken up charge of one of the
worlds largest software companies, Adobe, Narayen has been an old hand at Adobe
and an integral part of its innovation culture. He has steered the company as it
expanded its global reach and product portfolio. Narayen played an instrumental
role in Adobes acquisition of Macromedia as he co-led the $3.4 bn acquisition.
Before joining Adobe in 1998, he was co-founder of Pictra and held senior
management positions at Apple Computer.

Mohan Gyani

The Wireless Whiz

Former AT&T Wireless Mobility Services chief , Mohan Giyani played a
strategic role in expanding AT&T across the US and building up their
next-generation systems for global mobile communications. He also played a
critical role in the merger of AirTouch and Vodafone and its subsequent joint
venture with Bell Atlantic that resulted in the creation of Verizon Wireless.
There he was instrumental in leading the companys growth, through an IPO, to a
$70 bn enterprise over a five-year period.

Gyani has been vice chairman of Roamware, since January 2006. Prior to that,
he has served as chairman and CEO of Roamware, from May 2005 through December
2005, and also as president and CEO of AT&T Wireless Mobility Services.

Vyomesh Joshi

The Man with Clout




When Fortune magazine had issued a special list called Diversity 2005:
People With the Most Clout, Vyomesh Joshi was one among the only three Indian
Americans. Considering that Joshi sits on HP's imaging and printing intellectual
property portfolio of more than 12,500 patents worldwide, he indeed holds a lot
of clout. As Fortune said, Restructuring aside, Joshi is still the straw that
stirs the drink. Despite rival Dell's push into printers, his unit alone would
rank #79 on the Fortune 500, says it all.

Joshi, who heads HPs Imaging and Printing Group (IPG), is spearheading the
companys drive toward a premier printing company and not just a premier printer
company. Under his leadership, IPG has grown from $19 bn to $26 bn and doubled
its operating profit.

Narinder Singh Kapany

An Unsung Hero

Credited with the invention of optical fiber, Dr Narinder Singh Kapany is
one of Indias greatest contribution to the telecom world. In 1952, Kapanys
studies led to the invention of optical fiber iving him the title: the father of
optical fiber. In fact, Fortune named him as one of the Unsung Heroes in its
issue on businessmen of the century.

He founded his first company, Optics Technology, way back in 1960, at a time
when the Silicon Valley was not even known by this name. This makes him,
probably, the first Indian entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley apart from being a
researcher par excellence. In April 2000, he founded his third start-up, K2
Optronics.

Vivek Ranadive

The Dream Merchant

Vivek Ranadive calls himself a dream merchant. And, he is on track to some
extent. The chairman and CEO of Tibco, he founded the company in 1985 with the
vision of bringing real-time technology into the mainstream. Ranadive has
consistently been recognized as a visionary for the future of business
integration. He envisions a metanetwork of the future. He predicts that
therell be ubiquitous computing with billions of sensors and microprocessors.

Prior to founding Tibco, Ranadive was president and founder of a UNIX
consulting company. Previously, he held management and engineering positions
with Ford Motor Company, M/A-Com Linkabit, and Fortune Systems.

Dr Gururaj Desh Deshpande

Working Wonder




Dr Gururaj Deshpande, the Canadian billionaire of Indian origin, once
described himself as A crackpot who hit the jackpot". However, not many will
agree with him. Though jackpot he definitely hit, but his bounty is well
deserved.

This co-founder and chairman of Sycamore Networks is a powerful technology
entrepreneur and futurist. He has helped bring about a paradigm shift in the
role and architecture of the optical networkfrom a once static optical
infrastructure into an intelligent and dynamic network foundation for the
delivery of new services.

Pradeep Sindhu

The Networking Guru

Considered a technical visionary in the field of high performance and
network computing, Pradeep Sindhu counts in the ranks of the most powerful
people in networking. The co-founder of Juniper Networks, he serves as the CTO
of the company and is shaping up its technical roadmap. He handles the technical
architecture, and design and development at Juniper.

He was behind the company's Infranet initiative, a public network that
combines the ubiquitous connectivity of the Internet with the predictable
performance and security of a private network. Sindhu was also the man behind
the Juniper. He has also influenced the architecture, design, and development of
Sun Microsystems' first high-performance multiprocessor system family, which
included SS1000 and SS 2000.

Dr Narendra Karmarkar

Mathematician Par Excellence

Dr Narendra Karmarkar, an Indian mathemetician, made waves when he published
the now well-known Karmarkar algorithm for linear programming in 1984. His
algorithm and its variations are preferred over simplex. The consequence of his
research and invention have been great, as the use of the Karmarkar algorithm
allows solving complex optimization problems much faster. His algorithm, thus,
enables faster business and policy decisions.

His algorithm has revived interest in interior methods, which are currently
an important area of research in mathematical programming. His areas of
individual research interests include computational mathematics, linear and
non-linear programming, integer programming and combinatorial optimization and
numeric, among others.

Krish Prabhu

Telecoms Favorite




Krish Prabhu doesnt need an introduction in the IT and telecom industry.
Another in the line of global CEOs of Indian origin, Prabhu was once a rumored
candidate for almost every big job in the telecom sector.

When appointed CEO of Tellabs in 2004, Prabhu bravely faced the daunting
challenge of bringing fresh ideas to the company and improving its bottomline.
Despite the recovery in the tech sector, Tellabs had been struggling to
re-emerge as a telecom front-runner. Prabhu previously worked with Tellabs'
rival Alcatel Telecom. At Alcatel, he managed the launch of its worldwide DSL
products.

Nivruti Ra

Truly Global

Nivruti Rai was the first NRI to receive the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI),
a scheme that grants a life-long multiple entry visa. However, she has more
claims to fame than just the first dual citizenship card, shattering the glass
ceiling and becoming a top functionary with Intel.

She works on research and development pertaining to mobile platform
technologies for handheld and laptop computers, working to make high performance
computers lighter, faster, and with lower power requirements.

Jayshree Ullal

A Powerful Person

Jayshree Ullals 23 year long stint in networking spans across engineering,
marketing and business domains. She is among the three highest-ranking Indians
in Cisco today, heading a business that contributes to around one-third of the
companys revenues. Ullal is one of the four women on CEO John Chamberss
executive leadership team.

She is responsible for driving the direction and execution of Ciscos
Switching, Security and the companys expansion into the data center product
lines and is responsible for $8 bn in direct and $15 bn in indirect revenue.
Ullal, in her previous roles with the company, has been successful in
streamlining and doubling the metro optical business.

Sumantra Ghoshal

Ahead of his Time




One of the worlds most renowned management guru, Sumantra Ghoshal was one
of the most influential figures in European management thought. He carried out
research focusing on the strategic, organizational and managerial issues being
faced by large, global companies; and was the first management expert to study
the role of global companies and their effect on the society. His pioneering
work includes a model of the Transational Firm, finally coining the phrase,
the transational corporation along with Chistopher Barlett. Ghoshal was
instrumental in setting up the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, and was
its founding Dean.

Prof Mohanbir S Sawhney

An e-Commerce Expert

There are few who understand how business and technology work together. And
Sawhney is among those select few, considered one of academia's top e-commerce
experts. With more and more businesses donning the internet hat, Sawhney is not
just the man of the moment but also of the future.

Sawhney has been exploring the World Wide Web and studying its implications
for businesses from the time when there wasnt much happening in it. However,
the visionary that he is, he recognized what Internet would do to businesses in
the future.

His research and teaching interests include marketing and media in the
connected world, process-centric marketing, collaborative marketing, organic
growth and network-centric innovation. Sawhney is McCormick Tribunes professor,
Technology, and director, Center for Research in Technology & Innovation,
Kellogg School of Management.

Pramod Haq

The Midas Touch

Leading Venture Capitalist, Pramod Haq is the man who sees big
opportunities. In 2004, Haq made it to the #1 venture capitalist slot in what
Forbes calls its annual Top 100 Midas list based on performance over the last
decade. He has also been ranked as a top dealmaker on the annual Forbes Midas
List for the past five years. But, more than what number he is at, is the
success of his ventures.

Haq has seventeen years of experience in the venture capital industry and
currently serves as managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners. Haq focuses on
investments in semiconductor and components, systems, software and services. He
was an early investor of Cerent (acquired by Cisco), Siara Systems (acquired by
Redback Networks), OnDisplay (acquired by Vignette), Winphoria Networks
(acquired by Motorola), and Extreme Networks.

Rakesh Mathur

The Start-up Guy

Rakesh Mathur has an impressive track record. His career path reads like that of
a typical Indian who has made it big in the Silicon Valley, yet he dons his own
unique personality.

Rakesh has been a founder of three technology start-up companies within the
past few years and has been an early stage investor in several other companies
before he went on to set up his latest venture, Webaroo. Webaroo helps search
and browse Web pages on the go. He is founder and CEO of Junglee, which was a
huge success, and was later acquired by Amazon.com. He was also founder of
Armedia and PurpleYogi.

Dr Amar G Bose

Making Wonderful Music




Dr Amar G Bosethe name sort of rings the bell of innovation and leadership
in the science and engineering of sound reproduction. No doubt, then, that hes
termed as the visionary in the world of sound.

This dynamo and head honcho of Bose Corporation has been crusading along
since the age of thirteen, much before he founded the company that has come to
be synonymous with sound quality. He was already building radios and had a radio
repair business even while he was studying in school.

Bose has been awarded with significant patents in the two areas of loud
speaker design and non-linear, two-state modulated, Class-D, power processing,
which to this day are important to Bose Corporation.