7. Azim Premji: Power to Effect Change

Wipro (Western India Products) was run by Premji’s father while he was studying electrical engineering at Stanford University. He took over the business which manufactured oil, at the age of 21. He expanded Wipro to include bulbs, shampoo, baby care products and hydraulic cylinders.

Most Decisive Moment: Wipro was advancing at a great pace when IBM was thrown out of India. Since, it was the only IT Company in India at that time; a vacuum was created in technology space. Sensing a great opportunity and integrating his engineering interest, Premji took a leap from household products to computer hardware. Later Wipro also started software development. Wipro grew from an oil company to a diversified conglomerate. Today, Wipro is the largest outsourcing company in India and its research and development unit is the world largest independent group. Wipro became the first Indian company to implement the Six Sigma program.