Forbes India — November 17, 2017

68 | forbes india december 29, 2017

By Sayan ChakraBorty

Mr Congeniality

His natural affability Has Helped nandan

nilekani bridge many divides. perHaps His

greatest test lies in His latest role, as

tHe non-executive cHairman of infosys,

tHe firm He co-founded

W

hen Naman

Pugalia

first wrote

to Nandan

Nilekani in

the summer of

2009, he did not expect a response.

After all, Pugalia was a nobody,

fresh out of Brandeis University,

Massachusetts, in the US, hoping to

work with the Unique Identification

Authority of India (UIDAI), an

organisation that Nilekani chaired.

People of Nilekani’s stature had

no business responding to cold

emails seeking jobs, he thought.

Much to Pugalia’s surprise,

Nilekani wrote back, albeit regretting

his inability to immediately

accommodate Pugalia. Six months

later, when a position opened,

Pugalia joined UIDAI, kickstarting

an association with Nilekani that

would transcend the project. “When

I started working with Nilekani, I

realised that the act of responding

to my email wasn’t a one-off, but

something that is fundamental to

him. His rules of engagement are

extremely democratic,” Pugalia,

founder of FourthLion Technologies,

a political campaign planner that

counts Nilekani as its first client,

says in a phone interview. “He is

a leader who will seek you out.”

At 62, Nilekani has made many

friends like Pugalia and won more

fans with his disarming demeanour

and collegial approach at work.

Gestures as elementary as responding

to an email, for instance. More

important, these friends cannot only

be found in the swanky

chambers at corporate

offices or government

establishments, as befits

the billionaire co-founder

of software services

exporter Infosys, but also

among the foot soldiers.

The ability to crack a

joke or two, or make up

a quick story to liven up

people, has made him

even more affable. Som

Mittal, former president

at Nasscom, recalls an

incident when he was at the

receiving end of Nilekani’s

humour. “At my wife’s

[Vidhu Mittal] book launch,

Nilekani told a room full

of people, ‘I was always

wondering how Infosys

was losing business to

Digital Equipment [where

Mittal worked] and that

was because Som would

invite his customers home

and his wife would cook

for them’,” says Mittal.

Nilekani, say his

[p r o f i l e s]

n a n da n n i l e k a n i

NaNdaN NilekaNi

non-executive

chairman, infosys

age: 62

Rank in the

Rich list:

Net Worth: $1.71 billion

Significant Business

development last Year:

nilekani spent the better

part of the last year

addressing concerns

over aadhaar, especially

around data security

and privacy, apart from

spending time with his

latest muse, startups. He

has invested in about 10

startups and launched

a $100-million venture

capital firm, fundamen-

tum, earlier this year.

The Way Forward:

putting infosys back

on industry-leading

growth trajectory. as

non-executive chairman

of the board, nilekani

is expected to help the

company find a new

ceo and quell the ani-

mosity between founder

nr n arayana murthy

and the board.

at a glanCe

89

Richest

10 0 IndIans

The