Infosys Technologies CEO S ?Kris? Gopalakrishnan has had a baptism by fire as he steered the company through difficult times since taking charge in 2007. He is a satisfied man today, but tells Darlington Jose Hector that there?s a lot to do yet and much scope for improvement

When S Gopalakrishnan, the 55-year-old managing director and chief executive officer of Infosys Technologies, decides to give you 90 minutes for an interview, you know what to expect. Kris, as he is known within and outside the company, is non-controversial and much like the Infosys? business model, de-risks his interviews and ensures predictability. He talks at an even pace and does not elaborate on subjects that he does not want to talk about. If NR Narayana Murthy is the pioneer and visionary and Nandan Nilekani is the charming technology evangelist, Kris quite easily is the bedrock on which Infosys? top management is built.

He walks in wearing a shirt with ?Infosys? embossed on it. Coffee is ordered and we settle down for the interview in his office.

As a child he had dreamt of becoming a doctor, but missed the cut-off in college by a mere two marks. While he was extremely disappointed about this, his parents were supportive, as they decided to back him on anything that he wanted to do next. Being a physics student, he was attracted to technology and when he was at IIT Madras, he was introduced to the world of computers and took an instant liking to it. Back then in India, computers were known as ?advanced ledger posting machines?, at least in banking circles. While pursuing his M.Sc in physics at IIT, he got to learn Fortran, a programming language used mainly for mainframe computing.

In 1977, companies such as IBM and Coca-Cola had to leave India and many who worked in IBM and other technology firms started setting up smaller companies across the country. Patni Computer Services was one such organisation. Kris got into Patni through campus recruitment, unaware that his life was about to transform.

Nandan Nilekani also joined Patni at the same time. Narayana Murthy and NS Raghavan were already there in the company. ?I vividly remember my first meeting with Murthy. He gave all of us a problem to solve that was a precursor to our new project at the Rourkela steel plant. He liked my work the best and we became close after that.?

A couple of years later, Murthy talked to him and other friends about starting a new company. ?I immediately said yes to Murthy. There was no element of risk and all of us had tremendous confidence in Murthy. So we went ahead and floated Infosys Technologies in 1981.? Kris was about to get married then, but his in-laws and fiancee supported him. ?In those days, starting a business and chucking away a good job was not seen as a smart thing to do,? he recalls.

Right from the start, Infosys concentrated on becoming the most respected company in the country. ?The focus was not just to become profitable. We wanted to do things the right way. We knew we wanted to build a company that can last 100 years and more. So we focused on laying a solid foundation,? says Kris.

Early days were tough. ?In those days, one had to wait for everything. I remember we had to import a computer in 1983, but the cost was coming to Rs 27 lakh. We did not have the money, but the Karnataka government helped us with a loan. We used to rent the computer to MICO during the day and at night we took it back for our use.?

Infosys had some 60 employees at that stage and all of them had to work extremely hard to ensure that salaries were paid on time. Business was becoming tougher and there were doubts about the longevity of the company. One of the co-founders, Ashok Arora, talked about moving to the US. Soon, a few others also started thinking about dissolving the company to start something new. ?But Murthy said he was willing to buy out the shares of all the founders and carry on with the company himself. I totally trusted Murthy and decided to stay on. Many others did the same and Infosys was saved from a break-up.?

Things changed with liberalisation. ?It was much easier to do business as the economy changed post-1991 and the world started to look at us differently. We went public in 1993 and in 1994 we started the ESOP scheme, which went on to become a huge success. Our policies and practices created new industry benchmarks and people realised that Infosys was a very different company, capable of building enormous wealth for its employees and shareholders. We soon became a household name.?

In 1999, Infosys got listed in the United States. ?At that time, all of us realised that we were creating a company that can make a difference to society and even the country. We achieved our goal of becoming a globally respected corporation and now looked forward to even bigger things.? In 2007, Kris was elevated to the post of CEO, once Nandan Nilekani stepped down.

Today, Infosys is home to 1,15,000 employees. ?We are a very big company with regard to job creation, but we are not that big globally in terms of revenue. We have our goals, but we want to achieve them under the umbrella of ethical corporate practices.?

The most important thing, Kris says, is the need to pass down company values to the next generation of leaders. ?At Infosys we believe in predictability of revenues, sustainability of revenues, profitability and de-risked business. Internally, we call it PSPD. Hence we believe in direct selling to customers, developing a good forecast system, keeping enough cash in hand and ensuring that no single customer contributes more than 10% of the total revenues.?

This month, Kris will complete three years as CEO. ?I feel reasonably satisfied. I had to navigate the company through the tough recessionary period. Thankfully, pricing pressures have stabilised. Now there is a better opportunity to talk about pricing. We are not totally out of it, but things are improving fast.?

Does he get enough time to indulge in new gadgets (a big passion) and play with his 11-year-old daughter? ?I have bought a new iPad. So that?s my new toy. When I am in India, I usually wind up work at 7.30 pm so that I can go back home and spend some time with my daughter. It?s so difficult to find time. I catch up on my reading during long overseas flights.?

He has also developed an immense liking for history as a subject. ?There is a lot to learn from history. I have found that events repeat periodically,? he says. ?At Infosys, we have decided to stay with software services and not branch out in any other direction. Software as a business has a lot to offer still.?

With two years left as CEO, he knows he has some unfinished business on his plate. ?There is always scope for improvement,? he says, adding, ?I am not sure whether I?ll get another term. That?s up to the board.?

For a man who missed a medical seat, he has achieved all that he wanted to and more. ?Infosys helped us achieve things that we could not have thought of even in our wildest dreams,? he says.