Nandan Nilekani is an Indian Entrepreneur, Ex-CEO & Ex-Managing Director of Infosys and also one of the co-founders of Infosys.  He is currently the Chairman of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and the Indian Government’s technology committee TAGUP (Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects).

EARLY & PERSONAL LIFE:
Nandan Nilekani (birth name: Nandan Manohar Nilekani) was born to Mohan Rao Nilekani and Durga as the younger son on 2 June 1955 in Sirsi town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.  His elder brother works Vijay works in the Nuclear Energy Institute.  His father worked as a General Manager at Mysore and Minerva Mills.  His primary education was at St. Joseph's High School (Dharwad) and The Bishop Cotton Boys' School (Bangalore).  In 1978, he completed his graduation B-Tech in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT–Bombay).  He met Rohini Ragini at a quiz event held at IIT-Bombay and both fell in love with each other.  In 1981, the couple got married and are blessed with two children Nihar (Son) and Janhavi (Daughter) both studying at Yale University.

CAREER & HIGHLIGHTS:
In 1978, after graduating from IIT-Bombay, Mr. Nilekani was interviewed by N.R. Narayana Murthy to join Mumbai based company Patni Computer Systems.  In 1981, three years later he was moved out of the company along with Mr. Murthy and few of his fellow mates.  In the same year, they have started a new company, Infosys which is now a billion dollar company in the world.  While Narayana Murthy stayed in India, Nilekani was shifted to USA to take care of the overseas projects.  During the 1980s – 90s Nilekani along with his team has worked hard to make their company one of the India’s leading IT services and consulting firm.

In March 2002, he has become the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Infosys preceded by Narayana Murthy.  From March 2002 – April 2007, Nilekani has served as the CEO of Infosys which is later succeeded by his colleague Kris Gopalakrishnan and he became the Co-Chairman.  On 9 July 2009, Nilekani has resigned and left Infosys to serve as the Chairman of UIDAI (in the rank of a Cabinet Minister) under the invitation of Dr. Manmohan Singh the current Prime Minister of India.  He also co-founded the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies).  

On 18 March, 2009, he also appeared on The Daily Show to promote his book “Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation”.  In his book, Nilekani discussed about the history of India, the ideas and attitudes that evolved during his times and his contributions to the country, India’s early socialist policies, IT (Information Technology), population, caste politics, higher education, infrastructure, labour reform, English Language in India and the future of India.  At a TED conference he spoke about his book and also his ideas about future India.

Nandan Nilekani has an estimated net worth of US $1.4 billion.  Thomas Friedman (an American journalist, columnist and author) derived the title of his book “The World is Flat” from a statement given by Nandan Nilekani.

NOTABLE AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
•  2002-03 – Named “World’s most respected business leaders” by Financial Times and Pricewaterhouse Coopers
•  2003 – “Asia’s Businessmen of the Year 2003” award along with N. R. Narayana Murthy by Fortune Magazine
•  2004 – “Corporate Citizen of the Year” award at the Asia Business Leader Awards by CNBC
•  2005 – Joseph Schumpeter Prize (for innovative services in economy, economic sciences and politics)
•  2006 - was awarded “Padma Bhushan” by the Government of India
•  2006 – was one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board
•  2007 – Forbes “Businessman of the Year” for Asia
•  2009 – “Legend in Leadership Award” by the Yale University
•  2011 – Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto
•  2011 – NDTV Indian of the Year for the Transformational Idea of the Year Award