Wooing the world

Infosys and its CEO Nandan Nilekani are both working towards becoming global brands.

Infosys Technologies and its chief executive, Nandan Nilekani, have lately taken a couple of steps which offer a glimpse into how the two are evolving on their journey towards a single goal "� becoming a "globally respected" brand. In this there is a triple emphasis on being global, challenging the established industry leaders and being respected.

In a break with tradition, Nilekani has recently joined the Reuters board, to get a feel of how global firms work. This, he feels, will broaden his horizon, giving him an exposure to board governance practices, varied environments and different sets of challenges.

Why Nilekani chose Reuters is also significant. "It is a brand for integrity. They double check whatever news they put out and don't put a spin on it. The other attraction of Reuters is that it is at the intersection of technology, content and globalisation which is critical. That gives you a different perspective," says Nilekani.

Infosys becoming part of the Nasdaq 100 index falls into the same pattern, "a part of the journey of globalisation, our desire to be noted for our corporate governance and international standards of leadership."

The Nasdaq 100, Nilekani points out, is truly global because it is the only major global index which accepts companies headquartered outside the domicile of the index.

Going global means that the client reach, profile, investors and employee base have all to become global. The last is perhaps the most important in terms of the internal culture of a firm. And Infosys is seeking to acquire an international workforce.

"The aim is to make the firm the employer of choice not just in India but in other parts of the world too," says the CEO.

Going global with a global workforce has two implications. Not only do you need to set up shop around the world, you need to people them with locals. Infosys is recruiting globally, people who are clearly set to become tomorrow's key managers.

The first batch of 126 recruited from leading US institutions like MIT and Columbia are in Mysore right now and a pilot group of 25 from the UK will come next year.

How serious Infosys is about the global focus is implicit in its business plan. The domestic Indian market is today emerging as a key opportunity for global technology firms. Infosys has a presence in this through its Finacle banking software suite, the dominant solution. But that's about it.

"At this point in time, building the global presence, building the brand as a global transformation partner, helping global corporations in their transformation -- that's really our main strategic priority," says Nilekani.

Firms worldwide are going through transition.And Infosys sees an opportunity to become their partner in this transformation. Companies want to be globally spread out, have their workforce where it makes sense and leverage the demographics.

This is the new "flat world company" and Infosys wants to offer itself as a paradigm or prototype of a flat world. The cutting edge of this "trusted partner" role is being provided by US based Infosys Consulting and most of the 200 plus people are globally recruited.

Says Nilekani, "Consulting helps our customers make that transformation. It is the thin end of the wedge which will lead to downstream work which hopefully will be more profitable."

Nilekani also talks of " strategic inevitability" that is leading it to the next stage in the evolution of the brand. It is clearly aspiring to be a consulting-led global IT leader and challenge the likes of Accenture.

A Forrester report talks about Infosys "going head-to-head with the likes of Accenture" although in size its $ 2.2 billion revenue (2006) is far behind Accenture's $ 18.2 billion.

While being a globally successful business is half the brand story, the other half is being a good citizen and in this brand Nilekani plays a significant role.

He is a major philanthrope, an innovator in urban institution building through the Bangalore Agenda Task Force experiment and keenly articulate on national policy priorities.

He and wife Rohini are almost invariably there, as organiser or listener, whenever there is a lecture in Bangalore by the likes of Jeffrey Sachs or Amartya Sen.