Azim Premji--Inspiring a Generation

There are many who keep reminding us what we lack as a nation. There
are just too many who tell us what is great about us—after
all, feel good has a lot of commercial value attached to it. But few
Indians whose voices matter try to make the world realize what is so
inherently strong in the Indian society. Many may not even consider
this to be such an important point to highlight in a man whose
achievements and efforts, when listed, could run into hundreds of
pages. But we believe, it strongly speaks of the values and convictions
of Azim Premji, the chairman of Wipro, and the winner of Dataquest
Lifetime Achievement Award for 2009.



After the Gujarat violence in 2002, when the Western media was
projecting Indian society as a communally-divided one, Azim Premji took
every opportunity to clarify that India was far more liberal and
secular than even the United States, quoting cases of his
being  profiled in the US airports because of his Muslim first
name. Many business leaders have highlighted India’s specific
strengths in global forums but few have proclaimed their pride in being
Indian as explicitly and as convincingly as Premji has.



Azim Premji means different things to different people: a visionary, a
world class manager, a symbol of  modesty, simplicity and
austerity, a great philanthropist, and whether one likes it or not, the
label of the most successful Muslim entrepreneur in the world (as the
World Street Journal described him). Well, unlike many others in Indian
IT (most famously the Infosys and HCL founders) he may not be,
technically speaking, an entrepreneur who started from scratch. But
probably his challenge was tougher. Son of a fairly established
Gujarati businessman (who, some accounts say was offered membership of
the Indian Muslim League and the post of first Finance Minister of
Pakistan by Jinnah, both of which he refused), the young Azim was
pursuing his studies at Stanford University in the US—not a
too common thing in the India of that time. But he had to quit
abruptly, when his father died in 1966. Premji, all of twenty one by
that time, was advised by the investors in the company,
Western India Vegetable Products Limited, a maker of
hydrogenated cooking fat, to sell it off so that a more mature
management could take over. That made him only more determined to steer
the company and make it a success.



Premji himself says that instilled the value of humility firmly in him.
“Clearly, the challenge of steering the company at a young
age of twenty-one was the biggest learning experience for me. I
wasn’t prepared when I stepped into the
role—however it only made me more resolute to surmount the
challenge, learn the value of a good team, and it built humility in me
to learn from others.”



The rest is not exactly history. At least, not the history of Wipro as
an IT powerhouse. The company pursued the traditional business for
close to one and a half decades before diversifying into Information
Technology in 1980. Even till mid-80s, it was known for its consumer
products, most notably its “787” laundry bars,
which it had introduced way back in the 60s, and “Wipro
Shikakai” and “Santoor” soaps. It was
only during the second half of 80s that it made huge strides in
launching computers in the Indian market. To put in perspective, HCL
and Infosys started in 1976 and 1981 respectively.   

Initially, it was the void created by the exit of IBM that many Indian
companies tried to fill. Wipro was no exception. Admits Premji,
“It was in late 70s  some of the existing players
had vacated the space in a market which they had created.
Somebody had to fill the vacuum.” But what worked for Wipro
was the vision—it was not a short-term approach.
“To us it was a high technology opportunity, it promised
service income and created an annuity base. It was a scalable business
with an affordable entry cost,” he says.



In what is probably the first example of  industry-academia
collaboration  in this industry, in 1980 Wipro asked IISc to
figure out design options for computers they could manufacture. Based
on the IISc recommendation, Wipro decided to go for 16-bit
microprocessor based system instead of the 8-bit both HCL and DCM were
selling then. Hence, Intel’s 8086 microprocessor got selected
over those from Motorola and Rockwell. Introduced at the annual CSI
convention in February 1981, it was the first time a non-mainframe
could have multiple terminals and multitasking at the same time.



Beyond the decisions to tap the new markets, what also stands out is
how Premji selected his people. This was the phase when Premji hired
Ashok Narasimhan to kickstart the “computer”
business. Narasimhan was the perfect start-up person. When he left,
Premji needed a manager who could take the company into next levels. It
is said that is the time when he had interviewed NR Narayana Murthy,
someone, who, like Premji, has won both the Dataquest IT Person of the
Year and Lifetime Achievement awards. Why Murthy did not join Wipro is
anybody’s guess. But that probably was a blessing in disguise
for Indian IT. It saw emergence of two powerful companies, instead of
one. When finally Premji hired Ashok Soota, he kept off from the
limelight, making many believe that he was not hands-on on the IT
business. It is only when one talks to Wipro insiders that one realizes
that Premji was involved in most corporate initiatives but projected
Soota as the face of Wipro. When Soota left to start his own company,
Wipro was ready for the next phase of growth as a global company. And
Vivek Paul was the perfect choice. Paul was based out of the US and
delivered on what was expected. Wipro listed in NYSE in 2000 and by the
time he left in 2005, Wipro’s market cap was one of the
highest among IT services companies globally, much higher than
much-larger companies such as CSC, EDS and ACS. Again, when Paul was at
the helm, though Premji was not as low-key, he allowed the center-stage
to Paul.



And finally, when he announced his decision regarding the new CEOs, it
was almost after three years. That was also a pioneering
step—two CEOs. That time, the observers read it as his
discomfort in handing over power to one person. A year later, the
performance—in a tough market—silenced all critics.
Wipro delivered the highest growth in the industry among peers.



Many of Premji’s managers evolved into CEOs and
entrepreneurs. Ashok Soota, Krishnakumar Natarajan, P Chandrasekhar,
Sudeep Banerjee, Sudip Nandy,  to Revathi Kasturi, the Wipro
alumni list would make the Who’s Who of Indian IT. As Premji
himself says, taking the reigns of the business at the age of
twenty-one had made him realize the value of a good team.



The
Global Company

The idea of offshoring had started way back with Wipro’s
‘Lab on Hire’ concept in mid-80s whereby it
provided R&D services to technology partners like Intel, Sun,
Motorola and Cisco. The R&D team ramped up to its Product
Engineering Services team, making it one of India’s largest
R&D facilities.

In the initial years, Wipro’s strength was R&D. But
soon, it realized that without tapping into the BFSI segment and other
horizontal services, it could not  grow beyond a point. While
others still shied away from large acquisitions, Wipro got into BPO by
acquiring Spectramind, started by Raman Roy, of Amex and GE fame. It
strengthened its infrastructure management business through acquisition
of Infocrossing, which remained Indian IT’s biggest
acquisition till HCL acquired Axon.

But Wipro’s global growth did not come at the cost of
ignoring the Indian market. It still remains one of the top domestic IT
companies, present in multiple areas such as hardware, software and
services as well as across all sectors—large enterprise, SMBs
and government.



Creating
Value through Values  

Successful strategies apart, what has driven Premji throughout his life
is his strong commitment to values, which he himself summarizes in
three simple words—trust, hard work and unyielding integrity.
The high value that he puts on trust has probably made Wipro create so
many good leaders.

As a public figure, what many Indians associate Premji with are his
austerity and his conviction in saying what he believes in. As one of
the richest Indians, Premji could well hire chartered
flights—yet, Premji mostly travels economy class, does he
mind getting into the front seat of a junior colleague’s car.


And it is not just in business that Azim Premji speaks out his mind.
While he may not be getting into each political debate, he does not
hesitate to speak his mind, be it on the Gujarat violence or the issue
of reservation. While he was critical of the Gujarat violence, he
ensured that the global media does not project this exception to
portray Indian society. So, at the same time, he was speaking against
the Gujarat violence at home, he was reiterating to the Western media
that India, by far,stands as a society that is pluralistic, liberal and
secular. “We need leaders to speak out on issues on which
they have deep conviction. I think I have done that wherever and
whenever I have felt strongly on a subject,” he says.



In one of his recently published articles he spoke about his passion
for giving back to society. “First, to build a just,
equitable, sustainable and humane society, we must act with the clear
understanding that the issues and challenges facing our nation cannot
be solved by the government alone. We as individuals, entrepreneurs and
organizations are equal participants of this democratic society, and
must play a more active role in these systemic issues. Indeed the
government can do a lot more and do much better on many dimensions, but
equally, we must do a lot more. Second, giving money in the form of
contributing to ‘causes’ is perhaps the usual first
step towards our starting to engage with these issues. However, the
engagement becomes a lot more meaningful and useful if it really
involves giving attention and thought to these issues. Often the paths
to improvement require a lot more than money; they require careful
thought and sustained energy. This is thus a combination of a basic
attitude of ‘giving’ and
‘caring’ for what happens with what we
‘give’.



His Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization established
in  2001, with a vision to “significantly contribute
to achieve quality universal education that facilitates a just,
equitable and humane society”, works in the area of
elementary education to pilot and develop ‘proofs of
concept’ that have a potential for systemic change in
India’s 1.3 mn government-run schools. The Foundation focuses
on working in rural areas where the majority of these schools exist.

What makes Premji extraordinary is he drives all these personally, even
while still being active in business, unlike say, Bill Gates or NR
Narayana Murthy. And apart from all the values and convictions, it
needs tremendous energy. This is a recognizing of his contribution
again—he was the winner of the man of the year award exactly
ten years back, in 1999. These ten years have elevated him from a
successful businessman to an extraordinary public figure that the
country is proud of and an entire generation looks for inspiration
from.



style="font-weight: bold;">Noteworthy Laurels and
Recognitions

2001: Premji established the Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit
organization with a Vision of significantly contributing to quality
primary education for every child, in order to build a just, equitable
and humane society. The financial resources to this foundation have
been personally contributed by Premji. The current programs of the Azim
Premji Foundation reach out to 2.5 million children in more than 20,000
schools across India.

2003: Business Week  featured him on their cover with the
sobriquet “India’s Tech King”

He was named by Fortune as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders
outside the US

Forbes  listed him as one of ten people globally, who have the
most “power to effect change”

2007: Business Week listed him amongst the top 30 entrepreneurs in
world history.

2005: Financial Times included him in the global list of 25 people who
are “dramatically reshaping the way people live, work or
think” and have done most to bring abut significant and
lasting social, political or cultural changes

2004: Time magazine listed him as one amongst 100 most influential
people in the world.

2005: He became the first Indian recipient of the Faraday Medal.

2000:  The Visvesvaraya Technological University conferred Sir
M. Visvesvaraya Memorial Award on him  

2005: The Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Bhushana,
one of the highest civilian awards in the country.

2009: Dataquest Honors Azim Premji with Lifetime Achievement Award.



Family
Album

Name:
Azim Premji

Born:
July 24, 1945 in Mumbai

Father:
MH Premji

School: 
St Mary’s School, Mumbai

University:
Electrical Engineering from  Stanford University, California,

Premji is married to Yasmeen, the couple have two children, Rishad and
Tariq