The Man, The Maverick

Who Challenged, Who Questioned, and Who Changed - India’s IT history. Here’s a walk down the last few decades of the industry with ICT industry doyen Harish Mehta

Industry veteran Harish Mehta needs no introduction to anyone who has been following the IT industry since its formative years, and how it spawned in India. He started his career in 1970 and has been associated with the world of technology since the 1960s.

Dataquest Editor Sunil Rajguru had a deep interview with him covering his journey since the onset and unlocking secrets that only legends like Mehta know about India’s IT story.

To USA and Back

Mehta started his education in electrical engineering but switched to computer science and got a special grip on hardware design. After his degree, he got his first job as a COBOL programmer in an insurance company. He soon demonstrated his real skills and got transferred to the database world—then, considered the most advanced area in the world of computing. After some time, he came back to his family and India.

It was a time when software income-tax benefit was given to every industry except software. We were told that if we could do $400 million business by the end of the year, the benefit would be extended. We were merely at $150 million.

“Why have you come here? What will you find here?” was the common response he got when he landed. He tried to join his father’s business, which was struggling. His family worked in the manufacturing of two-wheeler parts. Mehta started working there, contributing what he could. He was, however, appalled to see some poor labor conditions in manufacturing prevalent in the country then.

That’s when he met a management consultant who told him “Welcome Mr. Mehta, you will be a first-class citizen in a second-class country with a third-class administration. Our job is to fix it.” This struck Mehta a lot—truth described well with humor, as he recalls.

While looking for what to do, Mehta decided to enter the technology business—which did not even exist at that time. But the government was encouraging import of components with export commitments. It was a time of great labour arbitrage at that time. His cousin asked him to go to the USA – “You are a straightforward person, you will not survive in India, Mehta. Because corruption and lack of transparency will be hard to navigate.”

That’s when he felt determined to embrace the challenge of the software business.

The software of software

“We did not see a great future of business back then—specially when compared to the USA, which had a 15-year head-start. In those days, scientists were technology gatekeepers of India. They wanted us to do software-product business. Definitions of product changed with the place—excise department, RBI or bureaucrats. Because software was intangible.” He looks back and unravels how new, and tough, everything was back then.

“We had taken a moon-shot but we did not have capabilities of testing, architecture or even a business model. Most did not believe in copyright but right-to-copy,” he quips.

The gatekeepers were not ready to accept our ambition and vision for services, instead of products. Plus, there were hundreds of obstacles in policy-making. We needed start-of-the-art tools to develop applications for the big market. Still a sufficient low-end market was there. It was a lot of struggle—with hundreds of regulations strangulating the software-services game. But we realized if we could find a way, it would be something. There was also a profitable business model—in a small way—in body-shopping. We slowly built our base. Software services had to go a long way, but the journey had begun.”

That’s when associations and big decisions like NASSCOM, ecosystem-focus etc. took shape. “It helped us to bring the few software companies to come under one umbrella.” As the first-elected chairman of NASSCOM, he has spearheaded and seen a lot of eras in India’s IT path.

No Kickbacks—Big Kick-starters to an Industry

The initial rules—Dos and Don’ts—were defined. But the intangibility of software was a big challenge. There was a major trust deficit between policy-makers and businessmen — specially in a socialist and license-raj milieu at that time. “They did not trust us. Our first job was to build trust. In hindsight, it was a smart decision. Like—we decided not to bribe anyone for any change in policy-making even if it took 4-5 years. Patience paid. Also, we opened our offices to bureaucrats – they could come without invitation. We took them around, showed documents, shared our challenges. They were pleasantly surprised to see our space. It was a time when software income-tax benefit was given to every industry, except software. We were told that if we could do $400 million business by the end of the year, the benefit would be extended. We were merely at $150 million. TCS had not joined us till then. And they had a major market share of topline. We were clear that we needed them with us. We did not mislead the policy makers. We told them everything in a transparent manner—enlisting challenges too. We requested them to consult us for any policy change regarding software. We said that we will only submit recommendations. We only asked for an opportunity to express our side.”

We have a long way to go. But we have overcome massive challenges. It is the ingenuity of our people working together. I hope more and more NASCCOM-like associations are formed in other industries.

All this led to a huge difference. NASSCOM became strong as an influencer. The rest, as they say, is history-in-the-making. With NASSCOM, he solved problems at an ecosystem level. NASSCOM was a completely new model, with its own secret sauce of co-operation and one industry voice.

Onward and Forward

His journey from a technologist to entrepreneur to an industry-advocate is also chequered with many other colours. He made a lot of strides with the Novell joint venture—a major one in the software arena, especially with the 2nd largest software company that time. This was also met with a lot of scepticism. Networking needed sharing. And that was not a big thing back then.

But he looked at the glass half-full and bet on sharing. The bet took off and soon his company had a good market share. Microsoft was offering the same solution free of charge—that challenge came next. Mehta began focusing on Onward Technologies for new areas.

Engineering services business was one such area—which, soon, became hugely successful. In parallel, spurred by some contemporaries, Mehta also put his focus on still-fresh areas like angel investing, the product game. He also contributed a lot through TiE, and Infinity Ventures.

He is proud of how India’s IT industry has brought in a lot of forex strength, helped in creation of so many jobs, and strengthened the Indian middle class.

His book ‘The Maverick Effect’ underlines well – that for India to become the Golden sparrow 2.0 we (sone ki chidiya) need a million technopreneurs. The potential of technology can solve a lot of problems in the country—from healthcare to education. This, when unleashed well, has a bright future for the country.

“Of course, we have a long way to go. But we have overcome massive challenges. It is the ingenuity of our people working together. I hope more and more NASCCOM-like associations are formed in other industries.

But we need to break the ‘evil nexus’ that affects millions of people that suffocates people with corruption. We need a vibrant democracy, a powerful judiciary and robust enforcement. Protecting innovators is an important part of our progress in business. I am optimistic, though. And a lot of good lies ahead.”

When someone who has been here since the 70s, with a front-row seat to the industry, it means a lot when he says that.

(Catch the complete interview on the Dataquest India YouTube channel)