Information technology (IT) is all about innovation. Vish Iyer can’t agree more.
Mobility, social media and big data are all hot-button topics. Cloud
computing frees up people from the desk, so an IT system can be managed
even on the road. “For a bank, it could be payment via Internet banking
or mobile phone,” says the high-flying corporate executive, dapper in a
light purple shirt.
Vish Iyer: 'There is no advantage in having 20 or 30 years of experience unless you are ...very merit-driven and work-driven'.
“For an insurance company, it could mean enabling an agent to get
quotations and conduct transactions on his or her mobile.” For an
airline, pilots no longer carry huge bags with heavy operating manuals.
“We put that on an iPad,” he adds.
Few would believe the president for Asia Pacific at Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS) has neither training in IT nor a background in
engineering. He learns by doing.
Born and raised in Kolkata around the time when India’s first computer
arrived, Iyer graduated from St Xavier’s College, one of the city’s
best-known educational institutions with a major in taxation and
economics.
Now the head of the largest service provider in the Asia-Pacific region
based in Singapore, he manages 10,000 employees in 13 countries
including Australia, Japan, China and South Korea.
The 45-year-old Indian company, whose clients include Microsoft and ING
Group, is the provider of IT services and business solutions, with a
turnover exceeding $12 billion and market capitalization of $45 billion
on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
It is part of the Tata group, India’s largest conglomerate in seven
sectors including communications, engineering and energy, with a revenue
of more than $100 billion in the fiscal year 2011-12.
As a certified accountant, Iyer moved on from the financial field to
other areas including human resources, marketing, strategy, mergers and
acquisition. “I have been a chief financial officer many times,” he
tells China Daily Asia Weekly at the TCS Hong Kong office.
But that didn’t stop him from venturing into new fields after three and
a half decades. Midway through his career, he moved into a new-born
industry in India.
His rationale is: “What matters is how you put your basic training to
use and how you quickly learn from the surroundings. You can do anything
as long as you have a will to do it, and you are determined to work
hard enough.”
He spent a decade at IBM, where he was director of corporate development. IT has since become his longest stint.
He has witnessed the birth of the industry along with the ups and
downs. “The IT industry is very fascinating. Every two to three years
are completely different. In that sense, everybody got to continuously
learn,” he says.
In the IT world, experience doesn’t necessarily give you an edge over
the younger generation. Two-thirds of the company’s workforce has about
three years of experience and the average age of a TCS employee is just
28.
“There is no advantage (in) having 20 or 30 years of experience unless you are … very merit-driven and work-driven,” Iyer says.
“This is the industry across the world (where) everything looks the
same. There is no different standard in the US or Japan. Once you are
inside IT, it is the same. It talks the same language and (has the same)
quality level.”
The capability to locate young talent matters for the industry. To
Iyer, the Chinese mainland not only has a staggering domestic market but
also vast trained manpower resources.
TCS is among the first Indian companies to enter the Chinese mainland
as the first wholly-owned foreign enterprise. The IT consultancy
commenced its operations in Shanghai in 2002, then established a
development center in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province in October of the
same year. Its banking products are used by Bank of China in more than
40 provinces.
Iyer sees the potential to substantially increase China’s TCS workforce
from its current number of 3,000 people, as the company’s sales growth
in China outpaces that in the Americas. TCS now has relations with 20
colleges in China.
“Our business is all about people,” he says. “At the end of the day, we
need to find out where are these talents available for serving our
customers. China is very important from that point of view — as a pool
of talent. It’s equally important for the size of the economy, too.”
“We are very bullish about China,” he said in a previous interview.
“Its full potential has not yet been harnessed … We’re looking to
leverage its position as an innovation center and a hub for the
Northeast Asia region.”
TCS has started to provide a ground-breaking cloud-based service that
enables smaller banks and credit unions to establish their own Internet,
mobile and ATM facilities by paying a monthly fee. “A village bank need
not have an IT department, but the same technology that empowers a
(central bank) is now available to small and medium enterprises.”
The TCS pioneer project has found a home in the world’s second largest
economy. iCity or the Intelligent City, utilizes smart technologies and
collective intelligence to improve a city’s livability and
sustainability.
These cities will be built on cloud infrastructure that makes them easy
to run. Every citizen will own a personalized information page for
health records and blood pressure measurements and even get health
alerts and doctors’ advice.
Imagine buildings that glean energy from the sun and rain, reducing
energy consumption, and embedded software in cars and traffic poles that
automatically monitor local traffic. At the same time, healthcare and
consumer services are dispensed to citizens at home, saving time, cost
and valuable resources.
An iCity project in southern China’s port city of Guangzhou is slated
for a soft launch later this year. More blueprints are on majors’
drawing boards in first- and second-tier Chinese cities, including
Tianjin, Ningbo and Chengdu.
“The Indian IT industry over the last 20 years has done exceedingly
well,” Iyer says. “Works of best quality are from this industry. There
(has been) a lot of proud achievements — so it’s an exciting place to be
in.”
But when asked about the most exciting moment in his life, the
president’s answer has surprisingly nothing to do with his career. “The
day when my daughter was born, and when I was holding her in my hands,”
he says, with a gentle smile.
“Lots of people talk about work-life balance. I think each person has
to find that balance himself … Family influence is a strong support for
the profession I pursue, so there are no conflicts or contradiction.”
Looking back, Iyer has been with his two children — his 23-year-old
daughter and 18-year-old son — through every important step of their
life. “I (accompany) them through every exam, drop them off and pick
them up after classes, and consult their teachers for college
admissions. As long as you enjoy it, you’ll find time for doing it,” he
adds.
Technology has been the savior for this family man with a hectic business schedule with long hours of frequent travel.
“I am on the road 50 or 60 percent of the time. Each month, I am
outside my hometown for 20 days,” he says. “My children have grown up
with me spending a lot of time at work. But this is a world of Facebook,
email and Skype. That’s what we do now,” he says.
What makes his day? Iyer answers professionally without a second of hesitation: “To satisfy a customer in a meeting.”
Then comes the personal bit: “Followed by a relaxing dinner with my wife.”
By jennifer@chinadailyhk.com
Vish Iyer
President of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asia Pacific
Career Milestones:
2010: Becomes president of TCS Asia Pacific
2008: Serves as CFO of global business operations at TCS
2006: Takes up post as head of corporate strategy at TCS
1996: Becomes director of corporate development at IBM Global Services
1991: Joins Tata Elxsi as executive vice-president
QUICK TAKES:
Hobbies:
Playing golf. The question is not how well you play but whether you
enjoy the time. Whatever I do, I enjoy. It’s a great opportunity to meet
people.
Business philosophy:
I always believe in ... simple communication with the customer and the
employee. There is no point promising things that you cannot deliver.
Whatever you promise, you deliver. Whatever you don’t deliver, you don’t
promise.
If you were to do one thing differently in life?
I can’t think of one thing. I do things that I enjoy doing.
How to kill time on the road:
I spend a lot of time watching movies on the plane. My favorite stars
are Jackie Chan and Amitabh Bachchan, who hosted India’s version of the
game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Born: December 8 in a Year of the Snake
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Showing posts with label Vish Iyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vish Iyer. Show all posts
Saturday 16 March 2013
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