In a recent conversation with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, Nandan Nilekani shared a pivotal moment in his career: a 1978 job interview with Narayana Murthy. This seemingly ordinary event set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the founding of Infosys on July 2, 1981. Mr Nilekani, a fresh graduate from IIT Bombay with an electrical engineering degree, would go on to become the chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited. Looking back, he humorously refers to himself as an “accidental entrepreneur.”
“I came at a time when computing was moving from mainframes to mini-computers,” he told Mr Roslansky. “When I heard about this mini-computer company, I said, ‘Wow, this sounds exciting.’”
He was referring to Patni Computer Systems in Pune, where Mr Murthy served as the head of software.
“He was ambitious and set lofty goals,” Mr Nilekani recalled. “I was willing to do anything for him. If he had asked me to jump off a cliff, I would have done it. Working with him was an incredible experience.”
Reflecting on the job interview conducted by Murthy, Nilekani shared, “He asked me some problem-solving questions. Luckily, I managed to answer them correctly, and he offered me a job.”
Mr Nilekani added that he never initially aimed to build a global IT powerhouse or spearhead groundbreaking public tech initiatives. Instead, his driving force was curiosity. “Every morning, I wake up eager to learn something new,” he said. “The future will revolve around uniquely human qualities: empathy, compassion, and the ability to connect the dots.”
