Senapathy “Kris” Gopalakrishnan (born 5 April 1955) is an Indian businessman and one of the seven co-founders of Infosys. He was the company’s chief executive from 2007 to 2011, steering it through the global financial crisis, and vice-chairman until 2014. Since then he has been a major private funder of scientific research in India, particularly on the brain, and an investor in startups. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Senapathy Gopalakrishnan |
| Born | 5 April 1955, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India |
| Age | 71 |
| Occupation | Businessman, investor, philanthropist |
| Known for | Co-founder and former CEO, Infosys; chairman, Axilor Ventures |
| Education | Government Model High School, Thiruvananthapuram; IIT Madras (M.Sc. Physics, 1977; M.Tech. Computer Science, 1979) |
| Spouse | Sudha Gopalakrishnan |
| Children | 1 daughter |
| Honour | Padma Bhushan (2011) |
Early Life
Gopalakrishnan grew up in Thiruvananthapuram, where his father ran a small business. He hoped to become a doctor, missed admission to medical college by a narrow margin and studied physics instead. At IIT Madras he discovered computers and switched to computer science.
Career
He joined Patni Computer Systems in Mumbai in 1979 as a software engineer. In 1981 he and six colleagues, led by N. R. Narayana Murthy, left to start Infosys with 250 dollars borrowed from Murthy’s wife, Sudha Murty. He spent several years in the United States on its first joint venture and then headed technical operations, customer delivery and, as chief operating officer from 2002, day-to-day management.
He succeeded Nandan Nilekani in June 2007. Revenue grew from about three billion to six billion dollars despite the downturn of 2008–09, and he kept the company’s cautious financial policies. He was then executive co-chairman and vice-chairman, and retired in October 2014.
He was president of the Confederation of Indian Industry in 2013–14. Axilor Ventures, which he co-founded in 2014, runs an accelerator and seed fund for young companies in Bengaluru.
Research Philanthropy
Through his Pratiksha Trust he gave 225 crore rupees to set up the Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science, which studies ageing and dementia in Indian populations, and he has endowed chairs in computational brain science at IISc, IIT Madras and Carnegie Mellon University. He has chaired the council of IISc and funded a digital history of Indian information technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Kris Gopalakrishnan born?
Kris Gopalakrishnan was born on 5 April 1955 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India and is 71 years old.
What is Kris Gopalakrishnan known for?
Known for: Co-founder and former CEO, Infosys; chairman, Axilor Ventures.
Featured image: Kris Gopalakrishnan, then chief executive of Infosys, at the Horasis Global India Business Meeting, June 2009. Photo by Horasis, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
