Azim Premji Profile

Born: July 24, 1945 Achievements: Chairman of Wipro Technologies; Richest Indian for the past several years; Honored with Padma Bhushan in 2005. Azim Premji is Chairman of Wipro Technologies, one of the largest software companies in India. He is an icon among Indian businessmen and his success story is a source of inspiration to a number of budding entrepreneurs. Born on July 24, 1945, Azim Hashim Premji was studying Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA when due to the sudden demise of his father, he was called upon to handle the family business. Azim Premji took over the reins of family business in 1966 at the age of 21. At the first annual general meeting of the company attended by Azeem Premji, a shareholder doubted Premji's ability to handle business at such a young age and publicly advised him to sell his shareholding and give it to a more mature management. This spurred Azim Premji and made him all the more determined to make Wipro a success story. And the rest is history. When Azim Premji occupied the hot seat, Wipro dealt in hydrogenated cooking fats and later diversified to bakery fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products and hydraulic cylinders. Thereafter Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software. Under Azim Premji's leadership Wipro has metamorphosed from a Rs.70 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats to a pioneer in providing integrated business, technology and process solutions on a global delivery platform. Today, Wipro Technologies is the largest independent R&D service provider in the world. Azim Premji has several achievements to his credit. In 2000, Asiaweek magazine, voted Premji among the 20 most powerful men in the world. Azim Premji was among the 50 richest people in the world from 2001 to 2003 listed by Forbes. In April 2004, Times Magazine, rated him among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. He is also the richest Indian for the past several years. In 2005,Government of India honored Azim Premji with Padma Bhushan.

I joined Wipro in1966. Then a USD 2 million hydrogenated cooking fat company, Wipro Limited is today a USD 5 billion revenue IT, BPO and R&D Services organization with presence in over 50 countries. I started at Wipro with one basic idea - to build an organization which was deeply committed to values, in the firm belief that success in business would be its inevitable, eventual outcome. Unflinching commitment to values continues to remain at the core of Wipro.

Azim H. Premji - Chairman Azim Premji has led Wipro since the late 1960's. Then a $2 million hydrogenated cooking fat company, Wipro Limited is today a $7 billion revenue IT, BPO and R&D Services organization with presence in over 50 countries. Premji started at Wipro with one basic idea - to build an organization which was deeply committed to Values, with the firm belief that success in business would be its inevitable, eventual outcome. Unflinching commitment to Values continues to remain at the core of Wipro. Premji strongly believes that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things and that the key to this is creating highly charged teams. He takes a personal interest in developing teams and leaders and invests significant time as a faculty in Wipro's leadership development programs. In Premji's view, the Wipro brand promise of "Applying Thought" is the driving force for delivering value for customers - which is the heart of business success. This has driven Wipro's pioneering efforts in Quality, culminating in the "Wipro Way", which integrates the methods and practices of Six Sigma, PCMM, CMMi and Lean. It also drives Wipro's focus on applying Innovation for direct customer benefits - improving their time-to-market, enhancing their predictability & reliability, and cutting their costs. Premji is firmly committed to the belief that business organizations have deep social responsibility - and that this responsibility must be discharged: by conducting ethical and fair business, by active involvement with fundamental societal issues and by building an ecologically sustainable business. Wipro is deeply involved in trying to improve Quality of school education through its "Wipro Applying Thought in Schools" initiative, in local community causes through "Wipro Cares" and is determinedly committed to a journey which weaves ecological sensitivity in every aspect of its business and organization. Over the years, Azim Premji has received many honors and accolades, which he believes are recognitions for each person who has contributed to Wipro. Business Week listed him amongst the top 30 entrepreneurs in world history (July 2007), they also featured him on their cover with the sobriquet "India's Tech King" (October 2003). Financial Times included him in the global list of 25 people who are "dramatically reshaping the way people live, work or think" and have done most to bring about significant and lasting social, political or cultural changes (October 2005, November 2004). Time has listed him as one amongst 100 most influential people in the world in April 2004 and in April 2011, citing his contribution to improving the public education system in
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India, which serves the underprivileged and disadvantaged. He was named by Fortune (August 2003) as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US, Forbes (March 2003) listed him as one of ten people globally, who have the most "power to effect change". The journal Foreign Policy listed him as one of the top global thinkers in November 2011. He was adjudged as the Business Leader of the Year 2004 by the Economic Times. In 2005 he became the first Indian recipient of the Faraday Medal. Wesleyan University, USA, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Aligarh University and Visveswaraya Technological University have all conferred honorary doctorates on him, while XLRI, Jamshedpur has conferred the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace. In 2000, the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers conferred its highest honor - the Honorary Fellowship. The US-India Business Council has honored him with the "Global Vision" award. He is a non-executive Director on the Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He is a member of the Prime Minister's Councils for National Integration and for Trade & Industry in India. He is also a member of the Indo-UK and the Indo-France CEO's forum. In January 2011, the Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Vibhushana, one of the highest civilian awards in the country. In 2005 he had also been conferred with the Padma Bhushana. The Republic of France has bestowed on him the "Legion of Honor" in 2011. In the year 2001, Premji established the Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a Vision of significantly contributing to quality primary education for every child, in order to build a just, equitable, humane & sustainable society. The financial resources to this foundation have been personally contributed by Premji. The Azim Premji Foundation has reached out to over 2.5 million children in more than 20,000 schools across India. In October 2006, the Foundation was recognized as the Corporate Citizen of the year by the Economic Times. The Foundation is currently in the process of a very significant scale-up, including setting up a University and multiple field level institutions, all focused on improvement in Education in India and related issues of Development. Azim Premji is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA.

Azim Hashim Premji was born on 24 July 1945 in Bombay Presidency, British India, is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist who is the chairman of Wipro Limited, guiding the company through four decades of diversification and growth to emerge as one of the Indian leader in the software industry. According to Forbes, he is currently the third wealthiest Indian, and the 41st richest in the world, with a personal wealth of $15.9 billion in 2012. When Azim Premji took over as its head, Wipro dealt in hydrogenated cooking fats and later diversified to bakery fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders. Thereafter Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software. The Amalner-based vanaspathi manufacturing company, the Western India Products later became Wipro Products Ltd and Wipro Limited subsequently. Under Premjis leadership Wipro embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion and diversification. The Company began manufacturing light bulbs with and other consumer products including soaps, baby care products, shampoos, powder etc. In 2000, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011. Premji owns 79 percent of Wipro and also owns a private equity fund, PremjiInvest, which manages his $1 billion personal portfolio. In the 1980s Wipro entered the IT field, taking advantage of the exit of IBM from the Indian market in 1975. Thus, Wipro started manufacturing computer hardware, software development and related items, under a special license from Sentinel. As a result, the $1.5 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats grew within a few decades to an over $6 billion diversified, integrated corporation in services, medical systems, technology products and consumer items with offices worldwide. The companys IT division became the worlds first to win SEI CMM level 5 and PCMM Level 5 (People Capability Maturity Model) certification, the latest in quality standards. A large percentage of the companys revenues are generated by the IT division. Wipro works with leading Fortune 500 companies. Wipro also has a joint venture in Medical Systems with General Electric company. Wipro Consumer Care launched brands like Santoor and the Wipro Shikakai in 1986; Santoor Talc and Wipro Baby Soft in 1991; Santoor Facewash, Wipro Sanjeevani Honey and Wipro Safewash in 2004; Santoor Handwash in 2006; Wipro Sweet n Healthy and Chandrika Handwash in 2007 and Santoor Deo in 2010.
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Wipro Consumer Care acquired brands like Glucovita in 2003; Chandrika in 2004; North West in 2006; Unza in 2007; Enchanteurand Romano in 2008 and Yardley in 2009 and Aramusk in 2011. Azim Premji founded Wipro Lighting and Wipro GE Medical Systems in 1991; Wipro Net in 1999; netKracker in 2000; Wipro Water in 2008; and Wipro EcoEnergy in 2009. Azim Premji is married to Yasmeen.The couple have two children, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of IT Business, Wipro. He is believed to be a Bohra Ismaili Muslim. Premji has been recognized by Business Week as one of the Greatest Entrepreneurs for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the worlds fastest growing companies. In 2000, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. In 2006, Azim Premji was awarded Lakshya Business Visionary by National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai. He was awarded a Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.), an honorary degree, from the Aligarh Muslim University on 18 June 2008 on the occasion of 58th Convocation Ceremony of the University. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut for his outstanding philanthropic work. In 2005 the government of India honored him with the title of Padma Bhushan for his outstanding work in trade and commerce. In 2011, he has been awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by the Government of India. In 1984, Azim Premji established the Wipro Equity Reward Trust to allow employees to acquire stake in Wipros success and growth. The WERT, which is administered by a Board of Trustees is designed to give eligible employees the right to receive restricted shares and other compensation benefits at the stipulated times and conditions. Such compensation benefits include voluntary contributions, loans, interest and dividends on investments in the WERT and other similar benefits. Shares from the WERT are issued in the joint names of the WERT and the employee until such restrictions and obligations are fulfilled by the employee. After a four-year period, complete ownership of the shares is transferred to the employee. If employment is terminated by death, disability or retirement, his or her restricted shares are transferred to the employees legal heirs or continue to be held by the employee, as the case may be, and such individuals may exercise any rights to those shares for up to 90 days after employment has ceased. In 2001, he founded Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organization, with a vision to significantly contribute to achieving quality universal education that facilitates a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. The Foundation works in the area of elementary education to pilot and develop proofs of concept that have a potential for systemic change in Indias 1.3
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million government-run schools. A specific focus is on working in rural areas where the majority of these schools exist. This choice to work with elementary education (Class I to VIII) in rural government-run is a response to evidence of educational attainment in India. In December 2010, Premji pledged to donate $2 billion for improving school education in India. This has been done by transferring 213 million equity shares of Wipro Ltd, held by a few entities controlled by him, to the Azim Premji Trust. This donation is the largest of its kind in India.

Name Born on Place of Birth Educated from Works for Valued at Position Married to

Azim Premji 24 July 1945 Mumbai, India Stanford University Wipro US $ 16.8 billion CEO Yasmeen

Early life Azim Premji, a man of brilliance is the CEO of WIPRO, one of the largest software companies in India. According to Forbes he was the richest man in the country from 1999 to 2005.He over the years has emerged as the 'tech king' of the country.
He was born on 24th July 1945 in Mumbai. His father MH Hasham Premji owned the Western India Products, which made hydrogenated vegetable oils and fats. Azim Premji did his schooling from St. Marys School I.C.S.E. at Mazagaon, Mumbai. Premji had to leave his studies in electrical engineering from Stanford University, California, USA at the age of 21 to handle the family business when his father suddenly died in 1966. At that time MH Hasham Premji's net worth was estimated to be $2 million. Premji eventually sought and received permission to study an arts course by correspondence to 6

complete the requirements for his bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering. Family Azim Premji is married to Yasmeen. The couple has two children, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad is married to Aditi and is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of IT Business, Wipro Technologies. WIPRO -Company Profile

WIPRO was initially known as Western India Vegetable Products Ltd, and was started by Mr.M.H Premji. The company manufactured vegetable oil, vegetable ghee and laundry soap. In 1966, upon the sudden demise of M.H. Premji, his son, Mr. Azim Hasham Premji, a 21-yearold student of engineering at Stanford University, had to takeover his father's business. He worked very hard to diversify and expand, WIPRO. The business diversified into fluid power, soaps, toiletries, lighting and baby care products, and distribution was considerably expanded. The Infotech era began in the late seventies and WIPRO set up its IT business in Bangalore in 1980. WIPRO became the No.1 listed company in the country in just 15 years. In reorganization, the firm went public with WIPRO Technologies, the global IT services subsidiary, whose gross income grew by 65 percent to reach ` 1042 crore ($240 million).WIPRO'S technology divisions, global R&D and telecom solutions contributed 46 percent of the software revenue, and the balance was accounted for by enterprise solutions business. E-commerce contributed 15 percent of enterprise solutions revenue for the year. Sales and other incomes of the second division, Wipro InfoTech, the Indian IT services and products business that takes care of networking solutions, customer services, computers and peripherals, grew by 20 percent to ` 825 crore.

Financial status Azim Premji transformed WIPRO ltd (western India products ltd) from a vegetable-oils maker into a robust IT company, which is ranked 3rd amongst India's computer service providing companies. He took over his father's business at the age of 21; after he joined WIPRO he slowly and steadily entered into other product lines such as ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, lightning products and hydraulic cylinders. Thereafter he shifted his focus from soaps to software. In the 1980's WIPRO entered into the technology field. Since his immigration into his father's business he has transformed a US $2million company into a global technology group with $2.5 billion in sales. Premji is a very simple man with a frugal lifestyle who flies economy class and prefers staying in company guest houses rather than luxury hotels.

Achievements and Awards

Achievements
1. He is the second richest man in India. 2. Transformed WIPRO from vegetable-oils company to a large software giant. 3. In the year 2001, Premji established the Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a Vision of significantly contributing to quality primary education for every child, in order to build a fair, equitable, humane & sustainable society. 4. Member of Prime Minister's Committee for trade and industry in India. 5. He has made WIPRO the biggest BPO service provider in India.

Awards
1. Premji was honored with the Business Man Of The Year award in 2000 by Business India and Business Leader of the year in 2004 by Economic Times. 2. Time listed him in April 2004 as one amongst the 100 most influential persons in the world. 3. He was named by Fortune in August 2003 as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US. Also in 2003 listed him as one of the ten people globally who have the power to effect change .Business Week in October 2003 featured him on their cover with the sobriquet India's Tech King 4. Government of India awarded him the Padambhushana. 5. In 2005 he became the first Indian recipient of the Faraday Medal. Wesleyan University, USA, Indian Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Aligarh University and Visveswaraya Technological University have all presented him with honorary doctorates, while XLRI, Jamshedpur has conferred the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace. In 2000, the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers conferred its highest honor - the Honorary Fellowship. The US-India Business Council has honored him with the Global Vision award.

Biggest Philanthropist of India

Azim Premji Foundation is a not-for-profit organization formed 9 years ago and is funded single handedly by him. It is established with a vision to contribute to systemic changes in Indian education that facilitates a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. Active since 2001, the Foundation has engaged with over 2.5 million children in 20,000 schools across 13 States through a dedicated workforce of over 250 professionals and hundreds of paid volunteers Premji is amongst those rare breeds of Asian entrepreneurs who put their wealth for philanthropic use. Azim premji MY LESSONS IN LIFE

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths. The second lesson I have learnt is that a Rupee earned is of far more value then five found. The third lesson I have learnt is that no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence. The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. The seven lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change, & do not compromise on your values. And the final lesson learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong.

We hire on requirement basis and not on anticipation. -Azim Premji My company believes in hiring people based on merit. -Azim Premji It is heading to be the IT capital of the country. Thats very good. -Azim Premji We believe this combination of excellence in operations and strong execution of our strategy is critical to achieve our vision. We will continue to focus on both in future as well. -Azim Premji We compete with global companies and are primarily in the services business, which is highly people dependent. -Azim Premji I think they are getting their act together now. Fundamentally GM is a very strong company. I think it will pull out of it faster than people expect them to. -Azim Premji The dividend payouts will be more generous than in the past two years and will be broadly in line with what we told investors in the last quarter. -Azim Premji It is no longer the issue of whether one should focus on China, or India versus China, but of India and China. -Azim Premji As you get bigger, you have to learn to delegate. Its also an excellent way to get staff involved in the companys operations. -Azim Premji The early years were more about learning than about acting. I had to carry on my fathers work, which was a big challenge. -Azim Premji As an advisor, I can say what I want. If I were a politician, I would constantly have to compromise, and Im incapable of doing that. -Azim Premji I want Wipro to be among the top ten IT companies in the world. -Azim Premji Character is one factor that will guide all our actions and decisions.We invested in uncompromising integrity that helped us take difficult stands in some of the most difficult
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business situations. -Azim Premji There are millions of children today who dont attend school. However,education is the only way to get ahead in this country. -Azim Premji

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These are changing times. Yet in the middle of all the changes there is one thing that constantly
determines success. Some call it leadership. But to my mind, it is the single-minded pursuit of excellence. Excellence endures and sustains. It goes beyond motivation into the realms of inspiration. Excellence can be as strong a uniting force as solid vision. Excellence does not happen in a vacuum. It needs a collective obsession as I have experienced the benefits of excellence in my own life. Excellence is a great starting point for any new organisation but also an unending journey. What is excellence? It is about going a little beyond what we expect from ourselves. Part of the need for excellence is imposed on us externally by our customers. Our competition keeps us on our toes, especially when it is global in nature. But the other driver of excellence is internal. I have found that excellence is not so much a battle you fight with others, but a battle you fight with yourself, by constantly raising the bar and stretching yourself and your team. This is the best and the most satisfying and challenging part about excellence. How does one create excellence in an organisation? First, we create an obsession with excellence. We must dream of it not only because it delivers better results but because we truly believe in it and find it intrinsically satisfying to us. We must think of excellence not only with our mind but also with our heart and soul. Let us look outside, at the global standards of excellence in quality, cost and delivery and let us not rest till we surpass them. Second, we need to build a collective self-confidence. Organisations and people who pursue excellence are self-confident. This is because excellence requires tremendous faith in one's ability to do more and in a better way. Unless, we believe we can do better, we cannot. Third, we must understand the difference between perfection for its own sake and excellence. Time is of essence. Globalisation has made the customer only more impatient. This may seem like a paradox: should we aim for excellence or should we aim for speed? Excellence is about doing the best we can and speed lies in doing it quickly. These two concepts are not opposed to each other; in fact, speed and timeliness are important elements of quality and excellence. Fourth, we must realise that we cannot be the best in everything we do. We must define what we are or would like to be best at and what someone else can do better. Excellence is no longer about being the best in India [ Images ]. It is about being the best in the world. We have to define what our own core competencies are and what we can outsource to other leaders. Headaches shared are headaches divided.
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Fifth, we must create processes that enable excellence. Today, there are a number of global methods and processes available whether it is Six Sigma, CMM or ISO. Use them because they are based on distilled wisdom collected from the best companies in the world. Also, we must build a strong foundation of information technology, because in this complex, dynamic world, it is imperative that we use the most modern tools to keep processes updated. Sixth, we must create a culture of teaming. I have found that while great individuals are important, one cannot have pockets of excellence. Quality gives ample opportunities to build a culture of teaming. Cross-functional teams that are customer facing can cut through an amazing amount of bureaucracy, personal empire building and silos and deliver savings that one would not have imagined possible. The other advantage of building teams focussed on quality is that the teaming culture eventually spreads to the rest of the organisation and teaming becomes a way of life. Seventh, invest in excellence for the future. Future always seems to be at a distance. But it comes upon you so suddenly that it catches you by surprise, if not shock. What constitutes excellence in the future will be significantly different from what it is today. In these days of severe market pressures, there is big temptation to sacrifice the future to look good in the present. We must certainly trim our discretionary expenses, but we must ensure that our investments in strategic areas that lead to excellence in the future are protected. Finally, excellence requires humility. This is especially needed when we feel we have reached the peak of excellence and there is nothing further we can do. We need an open mind to look at things in a different way and allow new inputs to come in.

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