It will be a momentous occasion when on Friday (June 27, 2008), IT czar Bill Gates steps down as the Microsoft boss to pursue philanthropy full time.
What was it like working with the legend? How is Gates as a boss and a mentor?
In an interview, Ravi Venkatesan, chairman Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd, spoke to Senior Associate Editor Indrani Roy Mitra about Gates, his insatiable curiosity and indomitable courage to take risks.
Venkatesan is responsible for Microsoft's marketing, operational and business development efforts in the country. In partnership with the leaders of Microsoft's other business units, he plays an integral role in defining Microsoft's relationship with policy makers, customers and business partners.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Venkatesan worked for over 17 years with Cummins Inc, a US-based designer, manufacturer and distributor of engines and related technologies. Excertps from the interview:
You worked for over 17 years in Cummins Inc. What brought you to Microsoft?
I am at Microsoft because of Bill Gates. When I was offered the job at Microsoft about four years ago, I was told I would be given a free ticket to Seattle to be interviewed by Bill Gates. The proposal was too tempting to resist. I got to meet the IT czar in November 2003
How did the interview go?
Although I was told it would be a brief interaction, seconds rolled into minutes and minutes into an hour and we ended up chatting for more than an hour. It was quite an experience.
While talking to Gates, which trait of his struck you the most?
His intense curiosity. I was amazed to see how much he wanted to know about the diesel engine industry, a field I came from. He kept asking me deep, probing questions about the technology that we have been using, how the industry worked, what challenges it faces, how do we overcome them, et cetera. I enjoyed every bit of that conversation.
And towards the end of a scintillating discussion, I got to ask him only one question: 'How long can I stay in the role that you are offering me.' Gates, I was told later, liked my query very much.
For, one of the secrets of Microsoft's success has been its long-term view. And there I was talking 'long-term' at the interview itself.
I cleared the interview and here I am.
Did you get to meet him again later?
Oh, yes. I got a chance to speak to him in December 2005 during Gates' week-long India visit. We were flying from Delhi to Chennai and we were talking about something.
When Gates is engaged in a conversation with his colleagues, hierarchy is thrown out of the window, so much so, that at one point of time, while giving him some data, I could insist that I was right and he was wrong.
Soon he came to realise that on that particular occasion, I was indeed right. And as if to validate my 'feat', Gates took out a dollar from his pocket and penned: 'I was wrong -- Bill Gates.' I still have that dollar with me.
Apart from curiosity, what other qualities of Gates would you like to mention?
It's his curiosity that one can actually write a book on. Each time you meet this man, you find him up to his neck in an entirely new subject. For instance, during one of my visits to Seattle, Gates had lectured me for 35 minutes on topics as varied as climate change, global warming, carbon dioxide sequestration, new design for nuclear technology, malaria vaccines and experiments about HIV vaccines!
When I met him last May, he told me he was taking web courses on geology and cosmology at night! It's not merely curiosity, but an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Gates has shared with me a few DVDs on Big History (the history of the universe) which I am watching these days.
This tremendous curiosity is backed by his ability to take huge risks. He had the courage to drop out of Harvard and take on IBM and now he is giving up a flourishing career to reinvent himself completely. Only a man of his stature can go to this extent.
Do you think Gates will be as successful in the social sector?
Absolutely. He is bringing to the social sector the basic tenets of IT -- data, analytics and performance management.
That, combined with Gates' energy, acumen and organisational capabilities, I am sure, will soon depict a new or completely different portrait of 'Bill Gates the great' in global history.
Do you think Steve Ballmer will succeed as Gates' successor?
Of course! All these years, Gates focused on technology whereas Steve has been a passionate doer. Now Steve would have to imbibe Gates' role as well. A man of his caliber, I am sure will be able to do it.
How do you plan to motivate yourself in the post-Bill Gates Microsoft?
As a mentor, Gates has taught us to dream big, to be brave to take up challenges, to be tenacious and stubbornly persistent till success is achieved. These are lessons of a lifetime.
What about Microsoft?
Microsoft, as usual, will be dedicated to Gates' dream of 'democratisation of computing'. Microsoft's presence in India is the second largest after that in the United States. And it is guided by the sole motive of making IT available to the common people, to bring a desktop to every home.
We feel that Indian economy still suffers because only large companies, not common people, here use information technology.
Though computer has ceased to be the large machine in an air-conditioned room across the wall, computer is yet to attain the status of a television at home.
In that respect, Microsoft as a company has come a very short way, we still have miles to go.
Image: Ravi Venkatesan (right) with Bill Gates. | Photograph, courtesy: Ravi Venkatesan
