Nandan Nilekani is an Indian entrepreneur, bureaucrat and
politician. He was the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of
India (UIDAI). After a successful career at Infosys, he
headed the Government of India's technology committee, TAGUP. He is a
member of Indian National Congress but not active in politics as
of 2015.
Nilekani in 1978 started his career at the
Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems, where he met and was interviewed
by N.R. Narayana Murthy. In 1981, Nilekani, Murthy, and five others left
Patni to start their own company, Infosys. Nilekani became the chief
executive officer of Infosys in March 2002 and served as CEO of the company
through April 2007, when he relinquished his position to his
colleague Kris Gopalakrishnan and became co-chairman of the board of
directors. Before assuming leadership as CEO in 2002, Nilekani held various
posts, including managing director, president, and chief operating officer. He
served as its CEO from March 2002 to April 2007. During his 5-year tenure
as CEO, Infosys' topline grew sixfold to $3 billion.