There are two aspects to Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra?s personality that people in the tech community vouch for. You can set your watch based on his arrival for a business interaction and no managing director in the country can hold a candle to him over moves on a chess board.
As the president and managing director of semiconductor giant Texas Instruments (India), Bobby has his hands full. After all, it is one of the finest technology companies in the world, which boasts of a tech friendly culture, apt for fostering innovation (as reflected in the 700 odd patents filed in the US by engineers in Texas Instruments ( India).
So he may not get too much time to spend before a chess board these days, but his love for the legendary chess player BobbyFischer (now you know the origins of his pet name) has not diminished one bit. Much like Fischer, Mitra has a very attacking style and prefers the Queen?s Gambit, which is an opening strategy many Grandmasters adopt.
Life in the corporate world is a lot like playing chess, he says. ?Moves on the chess board have to be made carefully, as there is a lot at stake. Chess has taught me how to take risks and when.?
At Texas Instruments (TI), Bobby is familiar with every turn of the page, having spent 24 years at the company. ?I had no reason to look for another job, after joining TI in 1986,? says the man who is regarded as one of the finest brains in the semiconductor business globally.
TI had set foot in India in 1985 and Bobby was very keen to join it, for he always believed his future lay in the cutting edge of innovation and research.
A look back into TI?s history will reveal the kind of inventions the company has carried out.
In 1958, TI co-invented the integrated circuit (IC) and in 1973 it began manufacturing random access memory (RAM) chips for use in computers and in 1982, it introduced the single chip digital signal processor (DSP), which is employed in cellphones, GPS receivers and adaptors for computer networks.
So it is no real wonder that Bobby chose TI for a life long stay. Today under him, TI India is the company?s largest R&D wing outside its facility in the US.
Bobby has been instrumental in expanding TI?s presence in India almost since its inception. He has been leading its research and development activities, playing a meaty role in developing products, as well as leading its India strategies as a semiconductor growth market for TI. Besides, he has also been a key driving force for the creation of the India semiconductor and electronics industry ecosystem, and establishing TI?s partnership with over 700 local universities.
He holds a B Tech degree in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering and a Ph.D in Computer Science and Engineering, both from IIT Kharagpur, besides an Executive Masters of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin. ?I had this burning ambition to get into IIT. It was a great desire at that time and it was like I had no choice but to crack it,? says Bobby.
Prior to his current role, Bobby was the director of the Americas Wireless Communication Product Development activities at Texas Instruments, Dallas. While being there, he also led TI?s ultra-low power digital signal processor (DSP) core.
?Electronics can change India,? Bobby says with conviction. ?I always thought I knew India, but the country has humbled me in the last four years with its progress.
India could be a leader in electronics system design innovation and TI has caught it early enough.? TI?s chips are used in a variety of industries, including smartphones, LED lighting, medical electronic devices and automobiles. ?We want to touch every walk of life,? Bobby says. At TI, the product mindset is very important. ?TI has an absolutely world class engineering team, and there is plenty of energy out there. The country has the opportunity to leapfrog technology, especially in matters related to energy and irrigation. Our semiconductor devices and microcontrollers can contribute significantly in developing technologies that could change the energy scenario in the country. Similarly, we can help in making a big difference in intelligent irrigation,? he says. TI?s chips can help determine the optimal use of water during irrigation.
In Bobby?s scheme of things, innovation is a continuous process. Just like in chess where one can never rest on one?s laurels, Bobby?s labs are continuously burning midnight oil to create a better tomorrow. It?s just that he likes the Queen?s Gambit and prefers taking a chance, to create the next ripple in research.