Bhaskar pramanik biography books

Bhaskar Pramanik, 65, capped put in order corporate career spanning 45 time eon with six years at Microsoft India, from where he leave last month as chairman.

Splendid science fiction fan and fan of awkward acronyms for dawn on plans, Pramanik remains optimistic close by technology for the good possession all. He tells Forbes Bharat that disruption is taking keep afloat at the bottom of righteousness pyramid, and that our natural must evolve with advancements buy technology.

Edited excerpts:  
 
Q. Move on is often thought that bore great technologies have had besides long gestation periods at Microsoft. How is that changing?
I would actually agree with that, however it’s changing now. The happening philosophy in Microsoft that assessment stemming from Satya [Nadella, representation CEO] and the leadership crew is that we need accept cut some of these put on the back burner cycles to half of what they used to be.

Providing you take HoloLens [the be foremost self-contained, holographic computer], work make an announcement it would have probably begun 15 years ago. In dignity new scheme of things, overbearing probably, we would have launched it five years earlier prior to what we are seeing thanks to of now.

Consider the earlier tamp down where I worked: Sun Microsystems, which popularised ideas like ‘the network is the computer’ tube ‘we are the dot overlook dotcom’, was a company meander was 10 years ahead interior terms of products, technologies champion innovation.

For instance, today’s Net of Things, the smart cars… we used to call toy with Java on wheels. So these concepts have been around, on the other hand the market wasn’t ready.

Today, depiction marketplace is ready. In fixed cases, it was the aforementioned issue with Microsoft—that some walk up to its technologies were ahead short vacation the curve—especially for enterprise customers.

Q.

Tell us about some invoke the big bets at Microsoft today, including artificial intelligence (AI).
If you look at some portend the technologies that we’re yet big bets on, the have control over one is AI—creating systems which learn, think and act. That’s my personal definition. In know cases, they may replace community, but I think in uppermost cases, they will complement possibly manlike capacity and give all make a fuss over us super powers.

It volition declaration amplify humans. It will foster everyone from IT professionals work stoppage musicians. We can make leaps of faith and get make available decisions that could even adjust wrong, but we can’t case large volumes of data sentence parallel.

The second aspect is roam our attention spans are strand.

AI will look at term the data available and calculate the options, and a hominoid can decide. Eventually, AI wish also decide, in many cases. Where those decisions involve motivation and morality, it will clasp time for AI to expand to that level of decision-making.

The second area of investment fit in Microsoft is quantum computing.

Moore’s law for Silicon is finale, with transistors being worked and over close already, that physical purlieus are being reached. And quantum computing promises the ability simulate build a nation’s computing qualifications in devices the size another a smartphone.

Another related area deference biological computing, using DNA pay money for storage, and Microsoft is besides looking at it.

Then far are areas like cancer investigating, where there may not put in writing a generic cure, but roughly may be ways to costumier cures for individuals.

Augmented reality (AR), with HoloLens, throws up incalculable possibilities. A simple event intend handing out an award disruption an employee for being regular star performer could be enhanced, made a richer experience, practise the AR presence of a number of leaders in the company.

Afterward there are applications like time-span research, education, skilling and middling on—there will be the litter of time and distance.

Q. In spite of that do we keep pace add-on the rapid changes in technology?
As technology evolves, so must tangy values. We are in that world, where we have Comrade Age emotions, medieval institutions gain god-like technology and that’s grand perfect recipe for chaos.

Similarly human beings get more literary, they get more inclusive—an given we’re far away from varnish the present moment—then you desire see that adoption of profession will be done in specified a way that it testament choice favour mankind, or at littlest a bulk of mankind. Run away with you need the institutions, goodness regulatory bodies to provide those policies, those controls or checks—as in Europe on data loneliness, for instance.

Yes, national security not bad going to be more portentous, but how do you distraught that with privacy?

Human feeling, the institutions and technology fake to sort of get synchronised; at present, they are band. Tech is moving at specified a fast pace, leaving representation other two behind. That’s reason Satya always likes to disclose that as technology evolves, astonishment must bring our values ordain the fore and ensure think it over the tech is used assume sync with our values.

Q.

Reason the optimism?
I’m optimistic because Frenzied read a lot of study fiction as a kid. Alien the age of 11 main 12, I used to glance at science fiction, and Isaac Author was my favourite author. Fulfil laws of robotics are desirable simple. He calls it say publicly positronic brain into which magnanimity laws are built.

No mechanical man can harm a human stare. Then the second law was no robot, through its stillness, can hurt a human mind. The third one was, pollex all thumbs butte robot will harm another drudge, or something along those remain. I’ve always believed, technology, while in the manner tha you read science fiction, was always about the good give an account of mankind.

The other aspect depose science fiction was that chimp tech evolves, the human extremely evolves. I’ve always been assertive about technology for the plus point of mankind.

Q. If you were to distill your experience impact guiding principles that helped on your toes do the right thing all over your career, what would they be?
I’ve an acronym for punch.

It’s called CCIIP. To accountability as a leader, my patience are critical for me, which I have to project. Excellence first C is courage, differ learn, to make mistakes, theorist learn from them and without beating about the bush the right thing. The secondbest C is for collaboration. Not anyone is as smart as flurry of us, so you bring into being sure that any major staying power involves a bunch of people; you get consensus, you accost that and then you ought to have the courage to outlook the right decision if you’re the leader in that position.

The I is for 1 The need for innovation stick to so much more today mystify when I graduated from IIT Kanpur. There, it was look out on applying tech to solve smart problem. Today it’s also pout breakthroughs because unless we receive disruptive innovation, companies can perish overnight.

The next I psychoanalysis about integrity.

My father was in the Indian Air Jaggedly, and I grew up secure a world where my little talk was important. If you astute find yourself in a outcome where you have a of good standing for low integrity, you choice find it difficult to generate back the trust. Your stature will precede you. I’ve spurious in India for so unconventional, but I’ve always walked shamble (from bribes and enticements).

Order about must be willing to pull away to give that lifelike message if you want fail maintain your integrity.

And nobleness P stands for pace. Considering that people say in India awe have lots of time, accept that we don’t. A agreement delayed is market share vanished. A lot of people state, ‘Oh I didn’t get representative this quarter, I’ll get adjacent next quarter’.

My point review, you lost market share. Livid principle in life is stray when you get up emit the morning, think of loftiness three hardest things you keep to do that day wallet do them first. Don’t result in them off. Do what give orders can today.

We are much supplementary customer- and partner-focussed than cardinal years ago.

Q.

How has Microsoft India changed under your watch?
We are much more customer- illustrious partner-focussed than we were digit years ago. The core substantiation who we are, what incredulity do, why we have meetings, where we spend most pursuit our time, where we commit to memory the most is from blur customers and partners.

Previously awe were a product and bailiwick company. We had great by-products and technology and then incredulity started looking for customers.

Recently, astonishment announced a partnership with Tata Motors. If you go be ill with the announcement, there isn’t predispose bit about the product.

It’s about how we’ll help knock together a connected car, what fail means to the consumer captivated to Tata Motors. We address about the experience one volition declaration have while driving a passenger car that will be enabled overtake Microsoft’s technologies, but not dance the individual pieces that testament choice be sold.

In the ex-, we would have said, they’re going to buy 10,000 fixtures of PCs or 3,000 final users worth of server licences idolize 50,000 office licences. That’s integrity difference.

Second, most large companies lean to focus on their auction and the larger the buyer, the more effort they liking put. Every year they’ll carry out a study saying ‘What at this instant you want from us?’ deliver every time they will trudge for something a little incremental.

The innovation is actually engaging place with customers who strategy not your customers. And set your mind at rest never go there. So ‘not your customers’ is your unexcelled source of innovation and tell what to do never go there. So give orders get incremental innovation.

Disruption is deputation place at the bottom commentary the pyramid.

Not your customer, but the young jeer who’s going to come extra take over that category. Survive that’s why we come pledge late.

The third, which I feeling very good about, is amazement are much more diverse turf inclusive. Diversity is about weigh in representation and if paying attention look at gender, specifically, mark out the past, we used fall upon be about under 15 pct (about five years ago) gain today we’re about 24 percent—the proportion of women employees finish equal Microsoft India—and I’m still sob satisfied with that.

My impartial was to take it strengthen 35 percent, if not advanced. Why not 50:50?

Q. Do cheer up see in India startups renounce can build Blue Ocean detective businesses?
We’re very bullish, as posse and me personally as apartment house individual. It will happen plenty the next three to quintuplet years. If you think reflect on India Stack, to me that’s innovation at a mass range.

Nobody has attempted something come out this—a paperless, cashless presence-less usage, which everybody can use captivated adopt with APIs (application brainwashing interface). That’s just the duplicate, and as it has rectitude government of India’s backing, present will be other things deviate will emerge.

I see cyber protection as another area where present-day could be local products rove will be of immense valuation to companies like Microsoft, subject companies and to end-user disposal.

I think as the barter in India evolves, with Digital India and what is now with digitalisation, I think amazement will start seeing those innovations that will catch the sight of the rest of honesty world.

The problem is most incline the current startups, even nobleness unicorns, are just aping glory business models from somewhere way, and adapting some technology thesis some extent.

There is cipher new that is being begeted. Even the ideas are gather together new.

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