Infosys Co-founders Nandan Nilekani, Chris Gopalakrishnan Take A Trip Down Memory Lane: Four Decades Of Infosys Excellence

Infosys Co-founders Nandan Nilekani, Chris Gopalakrishnan Take A Trip Down Memory Lane: Four Decades Of Infosys Excellence

December 16, 2022: India’s IT leader Infosys, a key player in the country’s software sector, has completed more than forty years in the industry and is celebrating four decades of excellence.

The Bengaluru-based firm is organizing a two-day mega event on December 13 and 14 to celebrate its four decades.

By NR Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, Senapati Gopalakrishnan, SD Shibulal, K Dinesh, NS Raghavan and Ashok Arora in 1981 only Rs. 10,000 started with a capital of Infosys now Rs. 6.65 lakh crore has become a company.

In its journey of more than 40 years, Infosys has expanded to more than 50 countries and has more than 3,45,000 employees.

Co-founder Nandan Nilekani recalled how the journey began and also recalled the challenges and successes of the IT major.

Nilekani, who is currently the chairman, has held various roles at Infosys. Speaking on the idea behind the formation of the company, Nilekani said that he wanted to create a company of professionals, a company of people with software background and expertise.

“Infosys was India’s first startup,” said Nilekani. The company was moving to the next level when we imported our first mini-computer – the Data General MV/8000 – recalled the co-founder of Infosys.

“I remember, we were very keen to bring that machine to Bengaluru as soon as possible. I went to Bombay to take that computer to Bengaluru,” said the 67-year-old.

1981 – the year Infosys was born – was a pivotal year in Nilekani’s life. In January of that year, he got married and 7 months later, in July, saw the birth of Infosys.

“It was a big shift. At that time even my wife Rohini believed that Infosys would work so she fully supported it.

It was an age when I could take risks but I think it was a great decision. It took a long time because it was only in 1993 that we could go public and actually fly.

But it was a trip we thoroughly cherished and enjoyed, he recalled. According to Nilekani, the fact that we have been able to connect with so many people over the years is what makes Infosys so special.

Chris Gopalakrishnan, another co-founder of Infosys, spoke about how he became part of the company in 1981 and his 4-decade-long journey at the firm.

“Murthy asked me if I wanted to join him in a new business he was starting,” Gopalakrishnan said while sharing that he was young and a graduate at the time, so he could take the risk and become part of the startup.

No company can be successful unless it has employees who share the same values as it does. Gopalakrishnan opines that recruitment should be a very carefully undertaken initiative.

“You have to make sure you hire people who can fit into the culture of the organization, who can provide value, who can play the role they’ve been assigned so it’s important to hire the right people,” he said.

When we listed on Nasdaq in 1999, we were confident that this was an entity that would survive, grow, said the co-founder.

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