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 usafter 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 Indias 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.

Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro Ltd

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 USnot 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 wasnt prepared when I stepped into
the rolehowever 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
visionit 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, Intels 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
anybodys 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, Wipros
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 steptwo CEOs. That time,
the observers read it as his discomfort in handing over power to one person. A
year later, the performancein a tough marketsilenced all critics. Wipro
delivered the highest growth in the industry among peers.

Many of Premjis 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 Whos 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 Wipros 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 Indias largest R&D facilities.

In the initial years, Wipros 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 ITs biggest acquisition till
HCL acquired Axon.

But Wipros 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
sectorslarge 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
wordstrust, 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 flightsyet, Premji mostly travels economy
class, does he mind getting into the front seat of a junior colleagues 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 Indias 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 againhe 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.

Shyamanuja Das & Sudesh Prasad

shyamanujad@cybermedia.co.in