TEDxGolfLinksPark - Ravi Venkatesan - Winning in India February 3, 2012

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Ravi Venkatesan is the former Chairman of Microsoft India ; under his leadership from 2004-2011, India became Microsoft's second largest and one of its fastest growing geographies; Microsoft India has been consistently rated amongst the Best Employers and the Most Respected Companies in India. He was recently voted the Most Influential MNC CEO for 2011 by the Economic Times. Prior to joining Microsoft, Venkatesan worked for over sixteen years with Cummins Inc, the world leader in engines and related technologies. As Chairman of Cummins India Limited, he oversaw the transformation of Cummins into the leading provider of power solutions and the largest manufacturer of automotive engines in the country. India has become a strategic hub for Cummins contributing over 20% of global profits. Venkatesan has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1985), an MS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University (1986) and a MBA from Harvard University (1992) where he was a Baker Scholar. Ravi was awarded Purdue University's Distinguished Engineering Alumnus award for the year 2011, the Distinguished Alumnus award by the Indian Institute of Technology in 2003. Venkatesan is a Director on the Board of AB Volvo and Infosys Ltd. and a member of the Advisory Boards of Harvard Business School and Purdue University. He is an Advisor to Raymond Ltd. and Bunge Inc. Venkatesan has contributed frequently to the Harvard Business Review; some of his articles include, "Strategic Sourcing -- to Make or Not to Make" and "Cummins Engine Flexes its Factories." He is currently working on a book titled "Winning in India" to be published in early 2012 by Harvard Business School Publishing. His interests include reading, classical music, leadership development and social entrepreneurship. Ravi is married to Sonali Kulkarni; they live in Bangalore, India.

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