‘Technology is like bottled lightning’
One of India’s early tech entrepreneurs talks about the contribution of NASSCOM, the IT revolution, and how the latter changed Indian society
What made you write this book?
India’s economy has ballooned in the last few decades, and the seminal role played by the IT industry, which contributes almost 10% of the country’s GDP, has not been properly acknowledged. Noted professionals, industrialists and even bureaucrats have written books but none mentioned the contribution made by NASSCOM in fuelling this growth. Even seasoned economists only credit the economic reforms of 1991.
The reforms did help to make the business environment more conducive, and almost all sectors grew; but no other industry matched IT. It was a technology-led revolution, and this success was an outcome of what we did at NASSCOM, some of which involved getting the government to understand how IT would transform the world and the opportunities it would give India, and building brand India at various levels. It was a structured series of monumental tasks.
Someone had to play the role of the historian and set the record straight!
How do you view the social and cultural impact of the IT revolution?
The Indian IT industry employs 5.3 million engineers, and earns foreign exchange of around $160 billion. In an IT company, about 70% of expenses are employee-related. These jobs provide a high disposable income, which allows employees to spread their wings.
IT jobs gave the real-estate sector its biggest boost. Our airports needed to be expanded because of the global reach of our business. Our campuses and infrastructure gave a boost to many businesses. In the past, to get a job you needed to know someone. In IT, if you get through the standard recruitment test, you get the job. This seeded a meritocratic revolution. It’s not just meritocracy we introduced but also a new era of gender equality. Today the IT industry is 37% women employees: almost two million women delivering great outcomes and earning a good income, enjoying freedom at work and freedom at home. Imagine the cultural change as these women bring up their families and inspire the next generation.
I admire this generation. They are fearless, imaginative and confident. And they have the potential to change India. Technology is like bottled lightning, and they have the capacity to bring it out and use it to create solutions. Of course, I’d like to caution them. I see many young ones chase valuation and not values. They should chase both and never focus on one at the cost of the other.