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Hot Seat
Adding value to lives
He has made the right career moves, and learnt lessons from
the difficulties. Sunil Patil, President, UBICS, walks through the memory lane
with Renuka Vembu
Sunil Patil |
The turning point in his life and for his family came when
he moved from Mumbai to Pune in his ninth grade. It proved to be a good place
for education, as the competition for talent was purely based on hard-work,
merit and excellence. At a time when only a doctorate or an engineering degree
ruled the roost, among the 200 engineering and 96 medical seats that were available
for the state of Maharashtra, when it was a matter of survival of the best and
the fittest, Sunil Patil got selected into both the fields, but he took up the
former as he never developed an eye for blood. He thus completed his BE in mechanical
engineering in ’87, stood second in the university, and joined the TATAs
for his first job.
Career flow
While they conducted interviews for the computer division
and the shop floor, Patil missed out getting chosen for the latter. On the HR
manager’s insistence and taking his word that if Patil did not find computers
interesting enough after a six- month trial period, he would be transferred
to the shop floor, he entered the company, learned to handle the operations
and then be a master at it. In 1990, he got his first opportunity to move to
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the starting of the realization of his software engineering
dream and having his own independent workshop with machines.
On pursuing entrepreneurship management, he said, “Entrepreneurship
management gave me a more clear focus. I learnt that it is not about starting
your own business and becoming rich; it is not about the financial outcome but
about value addition. Money and profit do not mean creativity, they are just
by-products. More than business, it is about handling people and personal relationships;
it is about showing a strong character without cutting corners. This acts as
the differentiator between aiming for short-term gains and a long-term player.”
Business model
In 1996, he started a company with $500, and though the company
did a great deal to touch revenues worth $12m, it still was comparatively a
small player and substantial monetary investments were required to set up the
complete infrastructure. In the year 2000, he ventured from services into the
product space, thus moving up the value chain. But the September 11 attack slowed
down the US economy and entrepreneurs with Indian background had to use India
as an option to market their products. It was here that the then director of
UBICS introduced Patil to Dr Vijay Mallya, and since they both were into similar
business, they decided to merge the company with UBICS, and Patil came back
to India.
Thus, starting in 2005, with merely 10 people to now a bench-strength
of 600 employees, Patil’s journey from the mechanical engineering phase
to software has been a smooth transition, merely constituting the battle of
the mind. He opined, “It has just been an internal friction of letting
go what you learned for four years. But I have acquired more knowledge and learned
to institute it. Hurdles are challenges which are opportunities; if you can
look at it, you can master it, and if you can master it, you can be successful.
If you can see a clear picture of where you want to be, then you will do it,
immaterial of any force which tries to stop you. The working styles may be different,
but the end result is what you are committed to.”
Achievements amidst challenges
Patil’s professional achievement has been building a
company during tough times. Also, voting for Pune against Bangalore for setting
up the company is one of his smartest career decision, he felt. Personally,
he has been lucky as his family supported the decision of moving from the US
to India, after almost a decade. Socially, he intends to promote Pune and India;
being in the relationship committee of the Commonwealth Games giving him a window
to do so. Patil also voiced his opinion that every individual needed to contribute
to society outside their personal purview, not merely in monetary terms but
by giving time to people and causes.
Providing education to rural kids is one of his missions.
Not a marked difference, but just an exposure he assured would help the children
a great deal. He is working on making a technology which will churn out high
quality videos on low bandwidth. This will enable his vision of educating rural
youth through video conferencing.
The personal window
Patil married in 1995, an arranged marriage, ‘without
seeing, without dating’, he reminisces, much to the amusement of his friends.
He loves traveling with his family, besides being an avid golfer. He also believes
in supporting people by understanding them and the challenges they face and
providing guidance.
Patil concluded, “The world is scripted for you, you
have to gear up for that.”
renuka.vembu@expressindia.com
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