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NR Narayana Murthy
The Humble Warrior

Infosys once most popular tagline, powered by intellect, driven by values is an apt description of its co-founder, Narayana Murthy. NRN has practiced what he has preached, no wonder Infosys has leaped to what it is todayone of the worlds leading IT services companies. NRN has come a long way from starting Infosys from a Pune garage with Rs 10,000 borrowed from his wife, and the rest is history. Key milestones under NRNs leadership include events like the companys 1991 legendary public debut; and in 1998 when it went on to become the first Indian company to be listed on the Nasdaq. But, his biggest achievement has been in bringing a certain degree of ethics and philanthropy. And, the attitude to give and share is amply reflected in his company, and through the Infosys Foundation.

Nagarajan Vittal
The Pathbreaker

N Vittal had the courage to dream big. He was the IT lobbyist within the government to frame and drive the IT and telecom policies, which have played a big role in India's flourishing IT industry and the ongoing telecom revolution. He took over as Secretary of the DoE in 1990. The software industry will remember him for the $400 mn challenge and for what he once claimed and achieved"the Indian software export miracle". The DoE started breaking rules to create a freer environment, dramatically changing the scenario. From there, he moved to DoT. This tireless crusader might have retired from public service, but as a social ombudsman, he is a long way from retiring.

Vijay Bhatkar
Power Play

Super computers are not the domain of super powers. This seemed to have acted as the inspiration for Vijay Bhatkar, the man who sowed the seeds of supercomputing in India. And, as C-DACs founder executive director, Bhatkar played an instrumental role in building Indias first PARAM 10,000 super computer in 1998. He also pioneered the GIST multilingual technology project at C-DAC. Another achievement of Bhatkar was the creation of the Advanced Computing Training School (ACTS) at C-DAC that acted as a catalyst in grooming skilled software professionals. Bhatkar also played an instrumental role in the Education to Home (ETH) mission; International Institute of Information Technology (I2IT), PuneIndias largest postgraduate institute for advanced education in IT; and the India International Multiversity.

Dewang Mehta
Leaving Footprints

Dewang Mehta has played a key role in putting the Indian IT sector on the world map. As chief of Nasscom, his hard lobbying tactics paid off, making it one of the most respected industry forums in the country. When he took over Nasscoms stewardship in 1990, it had only seventy-two members, but when he passed away in 2001 it had more than 500. He deserves credit for building up to the events that led to income tax exemption for software exporters and software reproduction legislation, and excise and sales tax exemption from a number of state governments. Mehtas contributions would always be remembered by the Indian software services industry.

Azim Premji
Actions Speak volumes

Often dubbed as a reclusive by the media, Azim Premiji may be a man of few words, but his actions speak volumes. Today, Premji is the fifth richest Indian as per Forbes ranking, with a net worth of $14.8 bn. Premiji, who dropped out of Stanford midway, has successfully built a multi-billion dollar IT services company that has footprints across the globe. But its not merely for his business acumen that he is renowned. What Premji will be remembered most for, is his unceasing vision of Wipro as a technology-and IPR-driven company. For Premji, it has indeed been a long and fruitful journey.

S Ramadorai
The Gentle Giant

In a career spanning three decades at TCS, S Ramadorai has been instrumental in every success of TCS and the industry as well. He has played a major role in many important thingsbe it the numerous quality initiatives, the offshoring model, measurement models for people and processes, signing up of big-ticket clients, or forging alliances with global technology majors and institutions. He might not be the media's favorite poster boy, but in the echelons of Bombay House, Ramadorai remains at the helm of the Tata Group. The Padma Bhushan in 2006 was the nation's fitting tribute to the IT industry's silent warrior.

N Seshagiri
The NIC MAN

As founder director general of NIC and secretary to the Indian government, Seshagiris contribution to the India IT industry was immense. He founded NIC in 1975 and was its head till 2000. His key contributions were the conceptualization and implementation of NICNET (the first VSAT Network outside the US with over 1,200 VSATs) and ERNET. He is also instrumental in drafting the first liberalized Computer Hardware Policy in 1984, and the first liberalized Software Development, Export and Training Policy in 1986. Under his guidance, computer centers were set up in every department of the government.

Ajit Balakrishnan
The Webmaster

While surfing the Internet at Oxford University, adman Ajit Balakrishnan was truly amazed by the power of the World Wide Web. Though he was working with the advertising agency Rediffusion DY&R he got hooked, and along with a group of like-minded peers in a smoke-filled caf in Dadar, Mumbai in 1995 decided to start a cyber venture called Rediff.com. He had dabbled with IT earlier, as a director with PSI Data Systems. But Rediff.com, launched before dotcoms became fashionable and one that survived the later bloodbath, would be the name that history will remember him for. Rediff.com is the first Indian Web company to be listed on the Nasdaq.

FC Kohli
The Grand Old Man

Widely considered as the father of the Indian software industry, Fakir Chand Kohli has secured a place in the annals of Indian ITs history. Kohli started off as an engineer with Tata Power Company and rose through the ranks to become deputy general manager. It was then that he was offered the reigns of Tata's fledgling IT company, TCS, in 1969. Over the next two decades and more, Kohli shaped the destiny of TCS. He was the first to talk about Tandem, first to import an IBM 3090, to maintain that mainframes are not dead, and to question the openness of open systemseven before most of the world addressed these concerns.

C Sivasankaran
The Maverick

Probably one of the biggest achievements of Sivasankaran was his contribution in creating a desi PC brand, under the Siva brand name, in the 1980s and selling at Rs 33,000. But, a closer peek reveals that Siva had tried his hands on everything-from IT, Internet to coffee shops. In all the businesses he has done, he is known for his build it sell it approach. The telecom bug bit him in the 90s when he launched Aircel and Dishnet DSL that became a formidable force, with Dishnet DSL being the countrys first DSL ISP at that time. His telecom journey has ended with the selling of Aircel to Telekom Malaysia, and Dishnet to VSNL. Siva is keen on buying an ethanol plant in the US.

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