Nandan Nilekani: India's IT guy

(CNN) -- He's been called the Bill Gates of India, the man who has made India synonymous with IT and outsourcing, and is consistently cited as one of the world's best technology and business brains.

As the co-founder and co-chairman of Infosys Technology, Nandan Nilekani has received plenty of accolades for being at the forefront of India's transformation into a global leader in information technology. He was Forbes Asia Businessman of the Year in 2006, the same year he was given one of India' highest civilian honors, the Padma Bhushan.

From modest beginnings, getting into the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology to study engineering was a defining moment in Nilekani's life.

"I was just a middle class kid from a small town, and meeting a lot of very bright people gave me a lot of confidence and figure out how the world works," he told CNN.

While he has said that he lacked ambition as a young man -- "it came later in life" -- he had enough foresight and initiative to set up Infosys in 1981 with six others, and so the fabled company story goes, with only $250 of capital.

Infosys is now worth an estimated $4 billion and his ambition to develop Infosys as a company of ethics and excellence is as strong as ever.

As a businessman, Nilekani is sought after for his business nous and ability to develop a company, but he is just as in demand as an excellent communicator and technology visionary.

He's courted by governments and focus groups and sits on the directors' board of a number of international organizations.

"A good leader is one who can connect a bird's-eye view with a worm's-eye view of the world. Nandan is very good with the bird's-eye-view," said Infosys' Chairman of the Board Narayana Murthy.

Nilekani told CNN: "I had the patience to listen to those points of view and then hammer out a resolution or a solution that was acceptable to everybody. I realized I could be a consensus builder, a lot of that comes from my background."

He's been realistic about the current global economic crisis, predicting an inevitable slowdown in the growth of India's IT sector but stated at the India Economic Summit in New Delhi in November that they will continue to grow, despite the difficulties ahead.

The days of scorching growth might be over, but with a worm's-eye view and a bird's-eye view of the global situation, Nilekani is one Indian industrialist who has the vision to see through tough times.

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