After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company would invest USD 17.5 billion in data centres across the country. In a tweet, PM Modi said, “When it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India! Had a very productive discussion with Mr Satya Nadella…” On a day when the PM met Nadella in the national capital, he also met other CEOs – both global and India-born leaders.
Two leaders, however, who have figured prominently in PM Modi’s public engagements, by virtue of their being India-born global CEOs, and also popular tech icons, are Nadella and Sundar Pichai. In his interviews, too, the PM has talked about “the presence of India-born CEOs at companies like Microsoft and Google”.
It’s often acknowledged that the technical education system here, especially the IIT, IIM-driven ecosystem, has also been instrumental in producing, nurturing CEOs and global tech icons, many of whom dot the Silicon Valley today.
In a recent podcast, Pichai dwelt upon his childhood. He said: “I grew up in Chennai. Definitely fond memories of playing cricket outside the home… Pre-computers … Newspapers, books is how I gained access to the world’s information… My grandfather was a big influence. He worked in the post office. He was so good with language. His English… His handwriting, till today, is the most beautiful handwriting I have ever seen… He got me introduced into books… Books was a big part of my life… It’s not surprising I ended up at Google, because Google’s mission always resonated deeply with me. This access to knowledge, I was hungry for it…”
Other India-born CEOs, too, have similar stories. Nadella, for instance, went to a public school in Hyderabad and many of his schoolmates, too, rose to lead global corporations.
The Indian education system, including the technical education ecosystem, meanwhile, is presently undergoing a huge shift with the Union Government actively promoting learning in native languages. In recent weeks, the PM has also stressed on a ten-year timeframe for getting rid of a “mindset of colonial slavery”.
In a recent interview with BW Businessworld, Kishore Mahbubani said that a “global rebalancing in the world of ideas” was underway, and that there was also a bias against the Global South when it came to popular media platforms in the West.
So, how would the “decolonisation” process play out in the Indian technical education system?
BW Businessworld recently asked the Director of IIT Jodhpur about the phenomenon (students from the Hindi heartland here have shown an inclination to study engineering disciplines in Hindi). The Institute Director said: “…This dual empowerment – technical learning in one’s native language and simultaneous development of English skills – is a transformative model. It bridges a decades-old gap where language created unnecessary hurdles for bright minds from rural or tier 2, tier 3 cities”.
Maybe, then, it’s time for a renewed push for a level-playing field for the young girls and boys in Gadchiroli and Ganderbal, Dantewada and Lohardaga, to enable them to aspire to become global CEOs and tech leaders – much like Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai.
In his 2024 Independence Day speech, PM Modi had said: “… I am equally proud of several CEOs from India who are playing compelling roles at the global level today. It is indeed fulfilling to see that while on the one hand our CEOs are dominating the global business landscape, on the other hand one crore mothers and sisters joined women self-help groups and are becoming lakhpati didis”. |
