Hot Seat

“Challenges keep me going”

Vinutha V profiles Mukund Ramaratnam, Director, Marketing & Business Development, AMD Far East (India).

Mukund Ramaratnam is considered a perfectionist and he has always raised the bar for himself so that he could create new standards and set examples for others to follow. Says the man, “Challenges have kept me going and even motivated me to outperform at times.” His ability to stretch his level of endurance and his drive to excel are his greatest strengths. Evidence of this came in the US when he raised funds for leukaemia patients by cycling for 100 miles at a stretch in Colorado. This striving reflects in every sphere of his life.

His career started with WMX Technologies, a waste management company in the US. The job—working on bio-filtration—provided him the opportunity to contribute to a better environment. “My stint there was as a research engineer. The aspiration of making a difference to the environment was fulfilled. I pushed this technology of biological treatment and brought it to the market,” he recollects.

Later, he joined McKinsey as a consultant. He advised Fortune 500 companies on business and technology strategies. In the process he learned how large companies should understand and execute strategies, envision and make commitments. His learning was also on leadership styles and team building, following which Ramaratnam felt equipped to take on higher responsibilities.

At around this time, AMD was going through a major transition period and was all set to make waves in the industry. Ramaratnam’s appetite for more career challenges coupled with his interest in the microprocessor business led him to join the organisation in the US in 2003. As the PC market was saturated in West Europe and the US, Ramaratnam felt there was a lot of opportunity in the other parts of the globe such as India and China. He decided to make his home country a hunting ground.

His team was given just two months to understand and chalk out appropriate strategies to attack the global market. “To start with, we focussed heavily on the data relating to customers and channel partners. We made regional teams a part of the strategy. AMD as a company was behind us in all our efforts, and the strategy worked well,” he states. This project encouraged the company to bring in the right talent and achieve success.

At AMD, Ramaratnam started involving himself in creating a right business and brand name. He lists umpteen plans he has made for AMD. Empowering channel partners with the right tools comes first on the agenda. “In addition to building a strong brand for AMD, my aim is to enhance our customer-centric approach. We are also working towards bringing differentiated brand awareness among various channel partners.” Ramaratnam wants to be a part of AMD’s vision 50/15, which aims to connect 50 percent of the world’s population to the Internet by 2015.

He keeps himself busy with personal excellence activities. According to him, attaining academic merits is not the end-all for achieving excellence in one’s career. Non-academic aspects such as team-building is crucial for a professional to succeed. He explains, “People have a lot of data to take decisions. The amount of time required to take decisions has reduced, and the number of people taking on workloads has gone up. In such a scenario, where customers are all the more demanding, having the right team is a fundamental requirement. Unless you have a solid and strong team you will not be able to meet customers’ requirements. Today’s leader has the capacity to manage, and I think I fit in this category.”

On the personal front, Ramaratnam loves writing and listening to music. “Writing gives me an opportunity to assemble my thoughts and express them,” he says. While pursuing his education at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, he was an editor for their internal magazine. In music he loves jazz and is into playing the keyboard. An eager golfer, Ramaratnam insists: “Playing golf helps me focus better.” He also takes a keen interest in soccer and once dreamt of becoming a soccer star. He recollects with evident pride the time when he tackled the ball like a true professional while playing in the rain—before slipping and falling to the ground.

vinutha@expresscomputeronline.com