For the third episode of the NextCast Podcast, we had Mr. R Ramanan. Mr. Ramanan Ramanathan serves as the First Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), Additional Secretary at NITI Aayog. He was previously the Managing Director & CEO of CMC Ltd., a subsidiary of the globally acclaimed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai in Electrical Engineering in the year 1981 and then played an instrumental role in the growth of TCS. He is a Harvard Business School Alumni (HBS AMP187), accredited in Sustainability Leadership by the University of Cambridge, and has an Honorary Doctorate awarded by the Gujarat Law Society. Mr. Ramanan has garnered various accolades including the ‘Most Valuable CEO Award’ from business world India twice in a row and the Asia outstanding CEO award. He has served as the board member of various organizations including the India-Israel Business Innovation forum, GOI’s Unnati initiatives, Indo US Technology Forum ( IUSSTF ), and many more. Following is a gist of the hour-long question-answer interview we had with him.
The first question asked about the chain of commands at Niti Aayog. He answered by saying that Niti Ayog is a think tank that looks at various issues of the country and what needs to happen as a transformation to solve those issues. It’s not only concerned about economic growth but social-economical too. The government has started employing people from private firms. Atal Innovation was launched in 2017. They were looking for somebody to lead this. . He has been a part of TCS since the beginning since it had 450 workers. He got exposure for private life not only in India but around the globe. In 2001, TSC acquired CMC. That was a very strategic acquisition. He was managing director for the CEO. This experience helped him become the leader of the Atal innovation. Every vertical of the government (transportation, education, defense), is represented by think tank readers within Niti Ayog. They interact with the ministers, servants, etc. to come up with ideas to develop that sector. . He had the privilege to get a very close glimpse at the workings of Niti Ayog. They are very open in welcoming people from private firms. They enabled lateral thinking and lateral recruitment. He was one of the first to benefit from this. This has resulted in various schemes, eg. Arogya Setu, etc. Niti Ayog is the bridge of think tanks. Its result is various ideas and new policies. The Atal innovation mission was a slight deviation from the normal strategies of Niti Ayog. It was not only the think tank but also the doer.
The second question was about the development of the country. For this, Mr. Ramanan answered by saying that we need to ensure that infrastructure to develop the capital is present. We need to convert the cities to tier 1 city. About 500 smart sites can be developed in India. To do this, you need to be able to leverage, we are one of the fastest developing economies and should be able to leverage this for the development of the country and we have affordable, accessible, technologies that should be utilized. Thousands of Atal tinkering labs were launched in schools with cutting-edge tech. So that young students can play with this equipment in a fun way. When these children go to universities, they will be great assets for the country. 4 million children are using these labs. 33% of startups are women-led. It’s important to work on both physical and digital infrastructure. India has a huge demand for labor. And lastly, everyone should be a stakeholder. The third question asked about how they analyze a startup and know that kicking point that tells them that it will work. He answered that when you look at the startup world, it is full of new ideas and high imagination. People are looking for new ideas that are scalable, sustainable. Some other aspects are, The action plan and strategy should be good, there should be a roadmap, Backup plans are a must the uniqueness of your product and the approach is important along with the uniqueness of marketing approach, IT systems, support systems, HR approach, etc.
The next question asked about his experience of sitting in a class after 30 years. He answered by saying that it’s targeted to you to be able to leverage all the experience that you have got. It helped him to analyze the gaps of a startup. It was the most creative period of his life. When asked about his recreational activities, he answered by listing some of his favorites, like walking — morning and evening, reading, photography, poetry, sports like hockey and cricket, etc. His top two book picks are The Story of Amazon.com and Bridgital Nation. The final question about advice for work and life was answered by saying that an entrepreneur is a dreamer who is not fettered by any limitations. As we grow up, we put a limitation on ourselves. We should dream big. We all have come to serve a purpose in life and the purpose reveals itself. You should work hard and attain expertise in whatever you do. This conversation with Mr. R. Ramanan was truly inspiring. To listen to the interview in the voice of Mr. Ramanan, listen to our podcast on all major streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.