IITs have produced hundreds of entrepreneurs and leaders that are now running companies worth billions of dollars. One such IITian with an inspiring story is Nandan Mohanrao Nilekani. Nandan Nilekani is the co-founder and non-executive chairman of Infosys, one of India’s top tech companies with Rs 5.97 trillion market cap. Born in Bangalore, Nilekani’s journey to become the one of the most successful IIT Bombay alumni began in 1978 at Patni Computer Systems in Mumbai. At the IT firm, Nandan Nilekani met and was interviewed by N.R. Narayana Murthy. After working at the firm for about 3 years, Nilekani along with Murthy and five others left Patni and never looked back. That was the beginning of Infosys.
Nilekani held various posts at Infosys including managing director, president, and chief operating officer before he was named the CEO of Infosys in March 2002. He led the company till April 2007. During his tenure as Infosys CEO, the company’s topline grew sixfold to $3 billion and he also received Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.
In 2009, Nilekani was invited by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to serve as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India. After some time in the cabinet, Nandan Nilekani introduced the Aadhar card to the world. Currently more than 1 billion citizens of India are relying on Nilekani’s creation as their primary identification certificate.
Nilekani is also a serial investor with stake in 12 start-ups including ShopX, Juggernaut, Mubble Networks, Fortigo, P2SME, RailYatri, Tracxn, and others. He and his wife Rohini have decided to donate half of their wealth to the Giving Pledge, which is a movement organized by Bill Gates.
