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“I was willing to do anything for him. He was charismatic,” Nandan Nilekani recalled.
Nandan Nilekani called himself an “accidental entrepreneur.” (Photo Credits: Instagram)
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani recently shared a pivotal moment in his career during a conversation with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky—a job interview in 1978 with Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys. What seemed like a routine interview set the stage for a series of events that ultimately led to the founding of Infosys on July 2, 1981. After graduating in electrical engineering from IIT Bombay, Nilekani went on to become the chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited. He laughingly called himself an “accidental entrepreneur.”
“I came at a time when computing was moving from mainframes to mini-computers. When I heard about this mini-computer company, I said, ‘Wow, this sounds exciting,’” he told Roslansky during the conversation.
Murthy was the chief of software at Patni Computer Systems in Pune. “He was ambitious and set lofty goals,” Nilekani recollected. “I was willing to do anything for him. He was charismatic. If he had asked me to jump off a cliff, I would have done it. Working with him was an incredible experience,” he added.
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Nilekani reflected on the job interview conducted by Murthy and shared, “He asked me some problem-solving questions. Luckily, I managed to answer them correctly, and he offered me a job.” The meeting marked the start of a lasting professional relationship and went beyond a simple job interview.
This decision not only cemented Nilekani’s position in the expanding computing sector but also laid the groundwork for him to become one of Infosys’ six co-founders shortly thereafter, in 1981.
The Infosys co-founder went on to say that he never intended to become a worldwide IT powerhouse or lead ground-breaking public technology initiatives. Curiosity, rather, drove his motivation. “Every morning, I wake up eager to learn something new,” he asserted. “The future will revolve around uniquely human qualities: empathy, compassion, and the ability to connect the dots,” he also noted.
All of this began with his rebellious choice of joining IIT Bombay and electrical engineering, ignoring his father’s advice to go to IIT Madras. “It was a small act of rebellion,” Nilekani conceded. However, in the long term, it helped him become a leader in India’s technological and digital revolution.
