• Jaithirth Rao

    Former Chairman, MphasiS, an EDS Company; Former Chairman, Nasscom. Winner of the ‘Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award’2004 in the Technology category in two locations (India and New York) and the University of Chicago’s distinguished Alumnus Award.

    MphasiS, an I.T. Solutions and BPO Company, has its headquarters in New York and Bangalore. Its employee strength is over 12000. MphasiS has an impressive bluechip customer list and Development Centres in Shanghai, Bangalore, Mumbai and in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. It is one of the largest Indian BPO Companies and also has a BPO centre in Tijuana in Mexico. MphasiS is listed on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges of India. In 2006, the global I.T. services giant EDS acquired a majority stake in MphasiS. In November 2006, Jerry was made a member of EDS’s Global Leadership Team and appointed as the Vice President and General Manager for EDS.

    Prior to founding MphasiS, Jerry has held several positions in Citicorp. In a career spanning over 20 years, Jerry served in various capacities in Asia, Middle East, Europe, South America and North America, including Head of Development Division of Citicorp and CEO of Transaction Technologies Inc. based in Los Angeles. Citybank made rapid strides in India during the period Jerry was the Country Head.

    Jerry is on the Boards of the Royal Orchid Hotels and Infrastructure Development Private Equity. He is also on the Board of the following not-for-profit organizations; India Foundation for the Arts (Bangalore); Sujaya Foundation (Mumbai) and Mathematical Sciences Foundation (Delhi). Jerry is the past Chairman of NASSCOM the Indian Software Industry’s Chamber of Commerce.

    He has a Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago and The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is a regular writer and speaker. His areas of interest include Technology Strategy, Financial Services, and the Internet (he has testified before the US Congress on this subject). Jerry has been a visiting lecturer at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. A native of Bangalore, Jerry is 56 years old, is married, with three children. He is a Chemistry graduate of Loyola College, Chennai and completed his PGDBA from IIM, Ahmedabad in 1973. His personal interests include reading, traveling and writing poetry. He has published a book of his poems, too.

    Jaithirth (Jerry) Rao is the Founder and the guiding spirit behind FOSTIIMA Business School. He writes a weekly column in the Indian Express and is currently entrepreneur in residence at Harvard Business School.