Jacqueline (Jackie) Korhonen, the managing director and chief executive officer of Infosys Australia, is a very special person. She was a professional tennis player on her way to cracking the top 100 in world rankings. Many thought the game will be her career.
A baseline singles player, Jackie was touted as a potential champion tennis player, but then life had something else in store for her.
Today she has 25 years of IT industry experience in Australia and Asia Pacific, and has positioned herself as one of the industry champions in the region. Tennis? loss is clearly IT?s gain?for Infosys and Australia. ?Sport has helped me a great deal in my career. The tenacity, the will to fight back and hang on etc,? she says.
Jackie took over the mantle of managing director and chief executive officer of Infosys Australia in December 2008. She is driving the company strategy across Australia and New Zealand and her efforts have started to yield the desired results. ?Obviously, Infosys Australia is not as big a brand in Australia as in India. So we worked on it,? says Jackie, leaning back into her chair. ?A lot of effort has gone into this,? she adds.
Her corner office in Melbourne faces the harbour, and has to rank amongst the best spaces in town. ?Yes, we have a great view,? she says, with a smile. Infosys, wherever they have been opened offices, has always chosen some of the best locations. That?s been a policy with them.
Melbourne is no different. Infosys took us on a tour of the office. Swank office, one must say. Plenty of Indian software professionals could be seen working on their codes, with a good sprinkling of Australians in the vicinity as well.
?We have built up a good team in Australia. Today, our brand is very strong here, and people know what we are back in India,? says Jackie, who studied engineering in Sweden, apart from multiple degrees from the University of Sydney.
Infosys has a scholarship programme going with Monash University in Australia to sponsor indigenous students who are doing IT studies. The company will also provide them with work experience. She also talks to industry groups like Women in ICT in Victoria, and to students on having a career in ICT. ?The IT industry in Australia has picked up significantly over the last decade,? says Jackie.
Prior to joining Infosys, she served as vice-president of Managed Business Process Services for IBM Australia & New Zealand. Her previous roles include leadership positions in IBM?s Financial Services practice across Asia and developing and managing its Consulting and Systems Integration practice. From 1985-2008, she lived in Australia, Singapore and China working on multi-billion dollar tranformation deals. So, clearly, she has come up the ranks fighting her share of battles and winning the big moments just like in tennis.
A lot of people are still surprised to see someone like Jackie heading Infosys? operations in Australia. ?People generally expect an Indian to head Infosys.? This is part of Infosys? global strategy. Increasingly, one finds local talent adorning the tops slots across geographies. Having a multi-cultural team is an advantage as they bring in varied skills to the table.
Also, it gives the employees the confidence that it?s a fair deal out here, and drives home the point that it?s an equal opportunity firm.
?The Australian IT space has recovered from the downturn, and there are no more pricing challenges,? she says.
?I am sure there will be many more transformational deals in the pipeline. And we are ready.?
Looks like this base-liner has few more aces up her sleeve.