Why This Professional Is Considered ‘God Of IT’
At 26-27, my boss said you are in the wrong industry at the wrong time.
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From creating the Rotaract Club in Rourkela while pursuing his chemical engineering at the National Institute of Technology way back in his yester years to being the CEO of India’s largest IT company, CP Gurnani is often considered the god of IT. Few know Gurnani was with a British company called Fenner India before diving into the IT ocean. “I was posted in Calcutta and enjoyed an incredible market share for the company compared to competitors. At 26-27, my boss said you are in the wrong industry at the wrong time. The company will only grow X much and you will have to look at a fast-paced industry.” That’s when Gurnani started his research and in 1995 landed a job in IT. In a career spanning 35 years, Gurnani has held several leading positions with HCL, Hewlett Packard Limited, Perot Systems (India) Limited and HCL Corporation Ltd. In 2016, Gurnani was appointed as the Chairman of NASSCOM for 2016-2017.
“I was a small town guy who didn’t even know what being a CEO meant. At 33, I was already a CEO of a small unit. At 38, I was a CXO. It was no longer a dream, it just came to me,” Gurnani told Entrepreneur as he recalled his nearly 40-year journey as a dreamer, achiever and giver.
(This article was first published in the May issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)
From creating the Rotaract Club in Rourkela while pursuing his chemical engineering at the National Institute of Technology way back in his yester years to being the CEO of India’s largest IT company, CP Gurnani is often considered the god of IT. Few know Gurnani was with a British company called Fenner India before diving into the IT ocean. “I was posted in Calcutta and enjoyed an incredible market share for the company compared to competitors. At 26-27, my boss said you are in the wrong industry at the wrong time. The company will only grow X much and you will have to look at a fast-paced industry.” That’s when Gurnani started his research and in 1995 landed a job in IT. In a career spanning 35 years, Gurnani has held several leading positions with HCL, Hewlett Packard Limited, Perot Systems (India) Limited and HCL Corporation Ltd. In 2016, Gurnani was appointed as the Chairman of NASSCOM for 2016-2017.
“I was a small town guy who didn’t even know what being a CEO meant. At 33, I was already a CEO of a small unit. At 38, I was a CXO. It was no longer a dream, it just came to me,” Gurnani told Entrepreneur as he recalled his nearly 40-year journey as a dreamer, achiever and giver.
(This article was first published in the May issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)
