[h=1]Why the US loves Indian tech CEOs[/h] Sundar Pichai's appointment as the new head of Google underscores the American love affair with Indian CEOs. The reasons for this range from humble backgrounds to an understanding of emerging markets
By Rajiv Rao for New Tech for Old India | August 19, 2015
THE INDIA EFFECT
India turns out to be a big influence on almost every one of these CEOs for many reasons. While colonisation under the yoke of the British may not have been that great for the country for innumerable reasons (Indian GDP was 24 percent of the world's economy when the Queen took over and was subsequently reduced to 4 percent in the twentieth century), they did give Indians the one thing that helps them vault over Chinese and European counterparts--the English language.
Indians also inherited the technologies of management from their colonisers. Running companies in a structured fashion, leading teams and becoming experts at industrial organisation became second nature. For a great read on this, pick up my old man and Indian management guru, SL Rao's book 'From Servants to Masters.' In fact, the exact same trend of Indians helming the top tech outfits also applies to management schools across the US and Europe. They are overrun by Indian bosses.
The other vital advantage that prospective Indian-born CEOs bring with them is the ability to understand booming, often-complex developing markets, which is where the next spurt of growth for many tech companies is taking place. To know how to operate there and how to cater products to them could bethe difference between winning and losing. It isn't all that surprising therefore that Pichai was in India unveiling the low-cost Android One phone (admittedly, not a glittering success, but it's too early in the game to definitively dub it a failure). Apparently, Nadella was recently in Kenya for the launch of Windows 10 where he disclosed a number of new initiatives for the country.
For full article please click on URL below:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-the-us-loves-indian-born-tech-ceos/
By Rajiv Rao for New Tech for Old India | August 19, 2015
THE INDIA EFFECT
India turns out to be a big influence on almost every one of these CEOs for many reasons. While colonisation under the yoke of the British may not have been that great for the country for innumerable reasons (Indian GDP was 24 percent of the world's economy when the Queen took over and was subsequently reduced to 4 percent in the twentieth century), they did give Indians the one thing that helps them vault over Chinese and European counterparts--the English language.
Indians also inherited the technologies of management from their colonisers. Running companies in a structured fashion, leading teams and becoming experts at industrial organisation became second nature. For a great read on this, pick up my old man and Indian management guru, SL Rao's book 'From Servants to Masters.' In fact, the exact same trend of Indians helming the top tech outfits also applies to management schools across the US and Europe. They are overrun by Indian bosses.
The other vital advantage that prospective Indian-born CEOs bring with them is the ability to understand booming, often-complex developing markets, which is where the next spurt of growth for many tech companies is taking place. To know how to operate there and how to cater products to them could bethe difference between winning and losing. It isn't all that surprising therefore that Pichai was in India unveiling the low-cost Android One phone (admittedly, not a glittering success, but it's too early in the game to definitively dub it a failure). Apparently, Nadella was recently in Kenya for the launch of Windows 10 where he disclosed a number of new initiatives for the country.
For full article please click on URL below:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-the-us-loves-indian-born-tech-ceos/
