Nandan Nilekani on being an 'accidental entrepreneur': 'But once I got into it, I realised...'

Nilekani currently serves as a non-executive chairman of Infosys.

Tech billionaire and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has often spoken about how he never meant to be an entrepreneur but it was only after he was approached by then-boss Narayana Murthy that he embarked on a journey that saw his contributions change the tech landscape in the country.

Speaking to LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, Nilekani said keeping an open mind helped him succeed even though he was an "accidental entrepreneur". The 69-year-old, who has a net worth of $3.6 billion, said, “I’m an accidental entrepreneur.  It’s not that I set out my life to be an entrepreneur, but once I got into it, I realised this was my calling.”

In 1978, Nilekani had gone against his father and taken up electrical engineering at IIT Bombay. It was also the beginning of his love for new technology, especially mini computers.

“I came at a time when computing was moving from mainframes to mini-computers. When I heard about this mini-computer company, I said, ‘Wow, this sounds exciting.’”

Nilekani also credited most of his success to his excitement and curiosity in learning new things, not a love for business. “Be curious, connected, and relevant,” he told the LinkedIn CEO. “I get up every morning wanting to learn new things, and I keep my mind open.”

He was referring to Patni Computer Systems in Pune where Murthy was the head of software.

“He was ambitious. He set great goals,” Nilekani said. “I would have done anything. If he asked me to jump off the cliff, I would have jumped off the cliff. It was a great experience working with him.”