Ajai Chowdhry

About

A visionary who cofounded HCL in 1976 with five others, with a dream of using the microprocessor and changing the world. He spearheaded HCL's expansion into Singapore in 1980, & built a business spanning ASEAN, China, and Hong Kong. Today, HCL is valued at US $50 billion. In 1995, Ajai took over HCL Infosystems & turned it into a leader in hardware, systems integration, & mobile telephony (Nokia), growing it over 15 years into a Rs. 12,000 crore (US $1.6 billion) organization. Ajai has played a leading role in building India's electronics industry, serving on government committees since 1999. In 2009, he chaired a MEITY task force that laid the foundation for the Electronics Policy. He is Chairman of the Mission Governing Board, National Quantum Mission of India, a Fellow at Indian National Academy of Engineers, and a Member of MEITY's Advisory Board for the India Semiconductor Mission. In recognition of his efforts to build the IT & Electronics industry in India he was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2011. He is the recipient of many other awards. Ajai has shaped several centres of learning, including IIT Hyderabad, IIIT-Naya Raipur, and NIFFT Ranchi (transformed into the National Institute of Advanced Manufacturing), and has served as Chairperson of ESSCI. His philanthropic efforts include the Swayam Trust, which recently launched the Aspire Scholarship for B.Tech students. He is also a Board Member of Population Foundation of India and Trustee of Save Life Foundation. Since 2011, Ajai has been deeply involved in nurturing, mentoring, and investing in startups. He is also on the Investment Committee of Electronic Development Fund and Canbank Venture Capital Fund. Regarded as ‘father of Indian hardware’ Ajai advocates self-sufficiency in electronics. He co-founded EPIC Foundation in 2021 with the aim to make India a Product Nation in electronics. In November 2024, he was awarded an Honoris Causa D.Sc. by ITM University Gwalior at its 9th Convocation. In his continuous pursuit of bridging researchers, industry, startups, and government through a shared vision he recently joined as non-exec Chair of IAIRO (Indian AI Research Organisation) For his profound contributions over five decades, Business World hailed him as the “Tech Statesman of India” on his 75th birth anniversary. His best-selling memoir, Just Aspire: Notes on Technology, Entrepreneurship and the Future, is published by HarperCollins India.