Biography of Azim H. Premji

Premji started off in Wipro with a simple Vision – to build an organization on a foundation of Values.

Under his leadership, the fledgling US$ 2 million hydrogenated cooking fat company has grown to a US$1.76 billion IT Services organization serving customers across the globe. Wipro is today ranked among the top 100 Technology companies globally (by Business Week). In the past two years Wipro has also become the largest BPO services provider, based in India. Wipro’s growth continues be driven by its core Values.

Over the years, Azim Premji has received many honors and accolades, which he believes are recognitions for each person who has contributed to Wipro. He was adjudged the Business Man of the Year 2000 by Business India and as the Business Leader of the Year 2004 by the Economic Times. Financial Times included him in the list of top 25 billionaires who have done most to bring about significant and lasting social, political or cultural changes (November 2004). Time listed him (April 2004) as one amongst 100 most influential people in the world. He was named by Fortune (August 2003) as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US, Forbes (March 2003) listed him as one of ten people globally, who have the most “power to effect change” and Business Week (October 2003) featured him on their cover with the sobriquet “India’s Tech King”.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education have both conferred honorary doctorates on him. He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Committee for Trade and Industry in India. In January 2005, the Government of India conferred upon him the Padmabhushana, one of the highest civilian awards in the country.

Premji firmly believes that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things. He believes that the key to this is creating highly charged teams. He takes a personal interest in developing teams and leaders. He invests significant time as a faculty in Wipro’s leadership development programs.

Premji has a fanatical belief in delivering Value to the Customer through world-class quality processes. This belief has driven Wipro’s pioneering efforts on Quality. Wipro was the first Indian Company to embrace Six Sigma, the first Software Services Company in the world to achieve SEI CMM Level 5 and it also became the world’s first organization to achieve PCMM Level 5 (People Capability Maturity Model). Premji equates Quality with Integrity – both being non-negotiable.

In the year 2001, Premji established Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a Vision of significantly contributing to quality universal education to build a just, equitable and humane society. This means every child receiving quality education. The financial resources to this foundation have been personally contributed by Premji. The current programs of the Azim Premji Foundation engage 1.8 million children under various programmes.