Updates and Information on upcoming events from the alumni association.
MORE >>
Govindarajan Kadambi
Class of 2005
Director, Business Development, Cognizant
Previous Occupation: Project Manager at Infosys
Present Occupation: Director, Business Development at Cognizant
Sector: IT Services & Consulting
Work Experience: 17 yrs
Interests – Professional/ Personal: Reading and watching cricket.
Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
I was born and raised in Hyderabad where my father worked with South Central
Railway.
My mother is a homemaker and I have two younger siblings. All of us are in the
information technology (IT) industry. My sister and her husband work with IT
firms in Seattle, while my brother and his wife are with IT firms in Hyderabad.
I’m with Cognizant in Chennai and my wife worked at Infosys before she decided
to take a break. We are blessed with two children, Ashwath and Nidhi.
Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including
recent awards/ special projects).
In school and at work, I have been a steady and consistent performer. I owe it
to the firm grounding that my school provided. I went to a school founded by a
Brigadier in the Indian Army, an institution I have grown to admire. It was a
good school that emphasised discipline and physical fitness, apart from
academics.
I earned my B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras. After that,
I joined Infosys. During my days at Infosys, I received the Chairman's
Excellence Award from N.R. Narayana Murthy, Founder and Executive Chairman of
Infosys.
Last year, I was recognised by Cognizant for heading the technology integration
of a product it had acquired.
Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after
ISB, including your career progression.
Prior to ISB, I was with Infosys for eight years. Here, I mostly held technology
roles that included programming, designing and managing projects. I spent over
three years in the United States in technology and client facing roles.
After ISB, I joined Cognizant and have been with them for the last nine years.
Here, I started as the head of the Cards and Payments domain group and grew the
practice to 70 consultants. Later, I moved to Test Consulting and was part of
the core team. As a group, we were instrumental in winning a couple of big
testing deals.
Currently, I’m with Cognizant’s Emerging Business Accelerator (EBA). EBA is a
group that is focused on creating the next generation offerings. I’m part of the
team that is responsible for incubating products and platforms. The product
portfolio is a combination of products conceived and developed in-house and
acquired through mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Describe your fondest memory at ISB.
I enjoyed most of my stay at ISB, but if I had to pick one or two favourite
memories, they would include the time spent at the atrium talking to friends and
walking from SV III to the academic block for breakfast.
In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you see yourself
doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting
impression?
Though it’s not the intended purpose of this question, one area of definite
improvement is personal finance. I’ve been investing in the stock market for the
last 13 years. I believe some of the finance and accounting courses at ISB have
helped me become a better investor. At the very least, my wealth manager can’t
take me for a ride so easily.
Also, ISB’s diversity made me appreciate the contributions of non-technology,
non-quant people.
How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
I think ISB has had a positive impact on my career. In IT, the roles and career
paths for MBAs are evolving. There are very few “MBA needed” positions today.
Most of the positions that I’ve held post-ISB are not exclusive to MBAs. So, it
is more about applying the skills to the roles rather than looking up “MBA
needed” roles. From that perspective, ISB equipped me with the necessary skills
to perform these roles better.
If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
World-class.
What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
ISB taught me to appreciate diversity, something that my engineering education
and work experience — where my peer group was homogeneous — failed to teach me.
The case study- based teaching, along with the consulting experience that the
professors brought to the courses, made it easier to retain concepts.
Word of advice for the current class?
Work hard, stay focussed and don’t give up. Keep reminding yourself why you came
to ISB. For most of you, this is your last year of formal education, so make the
most of what ISB has to offer. Also, get enough sleep as life at ISB can be
stressful.
What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
Before coming to ISB, I was not a big fan of non-quant courses. However, at ISB
I started enjoying these courses and ended up majoring in Marketing and
Leadership and Change Management. During my early days at ISB, my preference was
for Finance and IT.
One course I liked in particular was Negotiation Analysis. I’ve been able to
apply some of the tricks and tools to real-life situations.
Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell
us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable.
While there was no one individual, the diversity of the class was impressive and
acted as great learning platform. The closed group of 10-15 individuals that I
interacted with frequently and the occasional interaction with faculty and staff
were helpful.
What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
Well, that is for ISB to decide. I am available and willing to help where needed
to the best of
my abilities.
What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
The flexibility and opportunity to work in evolving/ future technologies.
What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in?
Any trends that you can see?
The latest buzzword is Social Mobile Analytics Cloud (SMAC). These terms are
self-explanatory. As customers look to strengthen their businesses using these
levers, SMAC promises to offer IT firms huge revenue making opportunities at
better margins. I’m positive about the role that Indian IT can play in mobile
and cloud. Social and analytics may be a little harder to crack.