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Kris Gopalakrishnan

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Senapathy “Kris” Gopalakrishnan is an Indian businessman and the chairman of Axilor Ventures, a startup accelerator.[1] He is one of the co-founders of Infosys, having served as its CEO and managing director from 2007 to 2011 and vice chairman from 2011 to 2014.[2]

Senapathy "Kris" Gopalakrishnan
Gopalakrishnan at the World Economic Forum on India in 2012
Born
Senapathy Gopalakrishnan

(1955-04-05) 5 April 1955 (age 69)
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Education
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Executive vice chairman, Infosys
Years active1981–2014
SpouseSudha Gopalakrishnan
Children1

Recognized as a global business and technology thought leader, he was voted the top CEO (IT Services category) in Institutional Investor's inaugural ranking of Asia's Top Executives and selected as one of the winners of the second Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards by Corporate Governance Asia in 2011. He was elected president of India's apex industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2013–14 and served as one of the co-chairs of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2014.

In January 2011, the Government of India awarded Gopalakrishnan the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian honour.

Kris serves on the board of governors of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, is the chairman of the Council of Indian Institute of Science, and is the chairman of the board of governors of International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. He is the chairman of the Vision Group on Information Technology of Karnataka Government, the chairman of RBIH (Reserve Bank of India Innovation Hub), and the chairman of CII Centre of Excellence in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Startups (CIES).

Kris is the chairman of Itihaasa Research and Digital which publishes the history of the Indian IT industry as [3] microsite as well as reports on industrial and academic research in India.[4] He is the Co-author of Against All Odds – The IT Story of India.

Kris invests in promoting research on Brain sciences, ageing ageing-related disorders as well as investing in start-ups and start-up ecosystems. His family philanthropy is Pratiksha Trust and his investment arm is Pratithi.

Kris holds master’s degrees in physics and computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Kris is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineers (INAE) and an Honorary Fellow of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) of India.

As per Forbes list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, dated OCTOBER 09, 2024, Senapathy Gopalakrishnan is ranked 73rd with a net worth of $4.35 Billion.[5]

Early life

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Gopalakrishnan was born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 5 April 1955. He studied at the Government Model Boys Higher Secondary School.

He obtained an M.Sc. in Physics in 1977 and M.Tech. in Computer Science in 1979, both from IIT Madras. He started his career as a software engineer with Patni Computer Systems, Mumbai, in 1979.

Positions held

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Kris Gopalakrishnan has served in leadership roles in several research/educational and industry/startup institutions and forums.

Positions in research / educational institutions and bodies

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  • Chairing the governing board of India's ₹3,660 crore National Mission on Cyber-Physical System Technologies[6]
  • Member of DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance's Strategic Advisory Council
  • Trustee of the Infosys Science Foundation[10]

Positions in industry / government institutions and bodies

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  • Chairperson of India's committee on Non-Personal Data Governance[12]
  • First Chairperson of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub[13]
  • Chairman of CII Centre of Excellence for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Start-ups[14] and former chairman of CII Start-up Council[15]

Awards and honours

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  • Thinkers 50 (2009)[18]

Philanthropy

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Support for research and entrepreneurship in India

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Through Axilor Ventures, Kris has invested in innumerable startups and venture funds. He has used some of his wealth - as of May 30, 2023, according to Forbes, estimated at $2.9 billion, towards causes such as health research, specifically brain science as well as technology-driven innovation that has a direct impact on society. [19]

Kris is supporting and guiding several India-focused initiatives, through his leadership roles in various Government committees/bodies and philanthropic initiatives, in the following areas:

Brain science and computer science

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Kris has contributed ₹225 crores to develop a Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He is the donor of the largest philanthropic gift ever received by the 105-year-old institute from an individual.[20] He has contributed an additional ₹60 crores to set up distinguished visiting chairs in Neurocomputing and Data Science at the IISc Bengaluru and Indian Institute of Technology Madras of Chennai.[21][22]

Another project Gopalakrishnan has funded at IIT Madras is the "Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre", which he says is the first of its kind in the world. The centre is undertaking the cellular-level image mapping of the brain. [23] [24] [25]

Kris is chairing the governing board of India's ₹3,660 crore National Mission on Cyber-Physical System Technologies which is overseeing the establishment of 25 hubs related to CPS and allied technologies.

Healthcare

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Kris has furthered ageing research in India through the Srinivasapura Aging Neuro Senescence and Cognition Study,[26] and GenomeIndia, a pan-India initiative focused on Whole Genome Sequencing of 10,000 individuals from representative populations across India.[27] He is also supporting the Accelerator Program for Discovery in Brain Disorders using Stem Cells at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, Karnataka.

He is on the Board of Swasth Digital Health Foundation, a not-for-profit consortium charting an innovative healthcare model in India.[28]

Other activities

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Kris instituted the Gopalakrishnan – NTU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowships, focused on Industry 4.0, Smart Cities.[29]

He supports young researchers in India through the Pratiksha Trust Young Investigators Award at IISc, Pratiksha Trust Scholarship and travel grants for Winter Schools on Quantitative Systems Biology at ICTS, and the Young Faculty Recognition Award and Travel Grants at IIT Madras.[30][31]

Kris established the Gopalakrishnan – Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIT Madras in August 2017, to be able to solve India's society's problems by applying the full capabilities of the scientific and technological knowledge of Indian academic institutions through world class innovation and entrepreneurship.[32]

Kris supports the nurturing of livelihoods of farmers through programs like the Naandi Foundation[33] and Centre for Collective Development.

He has supported several interesting history projects – such as the History of Indian IT through itihaasa.com and a research project on History of Mathematics in India at IIT Gandhinagar.[34]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kris Gopalakrishnan.
  1. ^ "Investors – Axilor Ventures:: Axilor Ventures is an Active Seed Fund". Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Infosys - S. Gopalakrishnan: Co-founder | Management Profiles". infosys.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  3. ^ "itihaasa.com".
  4. ^ "Home | Itihaasa". itihaasa.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  5. ^ "India's 100 Richest".
  6. ^ "National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS)". nmicps.gov.in. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Board of Governors". Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University OIST. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Mr. S Gopalakrishnan Chairman". iiitb.ac.in. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  9. ^ "GAIN Distinguished Speaker Series". Research. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Infosys Prize - About Us". infosys-science-foundation.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Infosys - Kris Gopalakrishnan in the UN Global Compact Board". infosys.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  12. ^ MeitY Office Memorandum No. 24(4)/2019-CLES dated 13.09.2019
  13. ^ ETBFSI.com. "Kris Gopalakrishnan appointed first chairperson of Reserve Bank Innovation Hub - ET BFSI". ETBFSI.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  14. ^ "CII Start up Centre". cii.in. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  15. ^ "CII". cii.in. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Press Information Bureau". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  17. ^ "KU to confer honorary doctorates on Narlikar, Kris Gopalakrishnan". The Hindu. 21 August 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Infosys - Kris Gopalakrishnan recognized as a Global Business Thinker". infosys.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Why Kris Gopalakrishnan is Spending Hundreds of Crores to Study the Human Brain".
  20. ^ "Infosys co-founder gives IISc Rs 225 crore | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. TNN. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Infosys Co-founder Sets Up 3 Chairs at IISc With Rs 10 Crore Corpus". The New Indian Express. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  22. ^ https://joyofgiving.alumni.iitm.ac.in/data/utilreports/Shri-Kris-Report.pdf IIT Madras website, Joy Of Giving section, Impact of Giving by Kris Gopalakrishnan, access-date=2022-09-30
  23. ^ "Why Kris Gopalakrishnan is Spending Hundreds of Crores to Study the Human Brain".
  24. ^ "Office of Alumni & Corporate Relations".
  25. ^ https://iitm.humanbrain.in/
  26. ^ India, The Hans (11 February 2020). "Gene-mapping project can transform country's healthcare". thehansindia.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Indian Institute of Science". Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  28. ^ "Swasth.app". Swasth.app. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  29. ^ "PM Modi Singapore visit: PM Narendra Modi visits NTU in Singapore, interacts with students | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  30. ^ "Indian Institute of Science". Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  31. ^ "ICTP - ICTS Winter School on Quantitative Systems Biology". ICTS. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  32. ^ "GDC - Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship". gdc-iitm.org. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  33. ^ "Naandi". naandi.org. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  34. ^ "Home". sites.iitgn.ac.in. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
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