Nandan Nilekani Recalls 1st Meeting With Narayana Murthy at Infosys: 'If He Had Asked Me to Jump..'

New Delhi: Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani recently shared how an unplanned encounter between him and Narayana Murthy at Patni Computer Systems in Pune changed his life.

Nilekani described himself as an "accidental entrepreneur" and recalled the job interview he gave to Narayana Murthy in 1978 as a fresh graduate, which ultimately led him to launch Infosys.

Nilekani further shared how he stumbled upon a job at Patni Computer Systems in Pune, where Murthy was the head of software, and interviewed for it.

“I came at a time when computing was moving from mainframes to mini-computers,” he said in a conversation with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. “When I heard about this mini-computer company, I said, ‘Wow, this sounds exciting.’”

Describing his fascination with Murthy's goals, he said, “He was ambitious. He set great goals.” Nilekani continued, “I would have done anything. If he asked me to jump off a cliff, I would have jumped off the cliff. It was a great experience working with him.”

Nilekani further recalled, “He asked me some problem-solving questions. Fortunately, I managed to get them right, and he gave me the job.”

He added that he never dreamed of building a global IT giant or leading one of the most ambitious public tech projects that would change the course of history. “I get up every morning wanting to learn new things,” Nilekani said. “The future is about what only humans can do: empathy, compassion, and connecting the dots.”