Sitting on his ergonomically designed chair at his Bangalore office, Gopal Krishna, General Manager, AMD is busy working on his latest product and building a team. For those who wish to return to India and take up leadership roles, Krishna says, “Technical leadership is one space wherein a returnee can add value particularly in the semiconductor vertical.”

With the transition towards making product-oriented tasks, rather than service-oriented tasks leadership opportunities are opening up in India. The scope of design carried out earlier was comparatively very small.

“The complexities of design in the field of semiconductors is increasing and it requires people with experience and only returnees can fill in the gap,” points Atiq Raza, President of RMi Technologies.

Considering the technical growth in the semiconductor industry, a returnee with experience in project and program level, can assume a role of leadership for satisfaction and growth.

Vishal Abrol, Application Engineer Director, Cadence says, “As new jobs are opening, a returnee can add value by streamlining certain processes, which can leverage an organization to take it to the next level.” A returnee carries a distinct trans-continental experience and expertise, which helps in lending new and exciting paradigm to Indian companies.

Many returnees in the past have aided Indian companies by nurturing and establishing successful project teams, imbibed with an uncompromising project delivery culture focused on technical excellence, quality and on-time delivery.

Raj Palmadai, Senior Account Technical Manager, Cadence says, “Technical excellence, advancement and opportunity in the semiconductor vertical in recent times has been tremendous.”

Palmadai, who spent nine years in North America working as Design Engineer and later shifted to field operations, feels that, one can add value in terms of supporting local design and maintain the drive in technology in the field operation sector.

If the opportunity matches the area of expertise, then it is challenging with a possibility of contributing from one’s own experience. Chip design engineers typically do not want to work on ‘consulting’ type of opportunities; instead, they prefer working in their domain of expertise on product design. “The position, title, compensation package are the other considerations that figure in the decision,” says Anil Gupta, Director, Hardware Design Center, Infineon Technologies India Private Limited.

Even though the Indian semiconductor sector is undergoing transition right from services to products, it is limited to the product execution phase. Product solution roles are yet to migrate and those roles exist where the customers are situated. Considering South East Asia, with a huge customer base with specific and advanced requirements, strategic roles might start migrating to India very soon to change the current situation where such opportunities do not exist.

Once strategic roles start migrating to India, it will allow returnees with experience and understanding of the emerging needs of customers from South East Asia, there by enabling them to take challenging roles to perform.

Areas of expertise closer to silicon-packaging, testing, silicon measurements and process/device modeling, have traditionally not grown in India. Opportunities in these areas are expected to grow in the future.

Make no mistake; India is the next power in semiconductors. India has crossed the Rubicon to embrace silicon.