A man of many firsts, Shakti Sagar has been in the forefront of campaigning for Hyderabad as a key IT destination. Srinivasa Rao Dasari speaks to man who has made many pioneering initiatives in Andhra Pradesh

	Shakti Sagar, President, Hyderabad Software Exporters’ Association (Hysea) and MD of ADP Wilco (India)

Shakti Sagar, president of Hyderabad Software Exporters’ Association (Hysea) and managing director of ADP Wilco (India), is well known for his vision and commitment towards his profession. The Andhra Pradesh government was the first in the country to formulate an IT code of conduct. Shakti Sagar was instrumental in designing the ITeS Act-2003. He chaired the ITeS taskforce which consisted representatives from the industry. He actively helped the state government in projecting AP as a favoured destination for global IT players.

At a time when Hyderabad was not known for its future potential and no efforts were taken to promote the city, Intergraph was the first multinational company to set up base here. The company established its captive unit for software development under Export Oriented Unit (EOU) guidelines.

Sagar was the man behind the decision of selecting Hyderabad for Intergraph’s future operations. He explains the reason: “During the mid and late 80s, many companies were looking at Bangalore, which is known as a pensioners’ paradise. We found three major factors to choose Hyderabad. Human resources are the real capital for IT. Software professionals from AP had already made their presence in the Silicon Valley. Then we considered the cost of living as a second factor and the third was the geographical location advantage. Hyderabad is in the north of the South India and the south of North India. The only one issue that was not up to the mark was communication facilities and other customs-related regulations. Even importing floppies in those days was a time-consuming process to get the approval from the customs department. Getting an occupancy certificate from the customs department was a tedious task and we used to spend a lot of time on getting approvals. It took quite some time to bring awareness about how software was different from other products. We tried a lot to bring the industry, academia and the government together in order to transform the state into a prospective IT hub.”

Many MNCs followed Intergraph to set up their centres in Hyderabad. As a result, the number of MNCs in AP is now as many as 45, from 10 in 1999. Shakti Sagar played a vital role in building relationships with the state government and was instrumental in bringing together different industry associations in solving the problems of the industry. Associations like the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), Hysea, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) and Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI), have been working closely, with great support from the state government. Sagar was also the president of Amcham during 2000-2002.

After completing his BCom (Hons) from Bombay University in 1976, Sagar joined Microcomp and played a vital role in revolutionising the domestic calculator market. In 1983, he was elevated to the product manager position and moved to Hyderabad. He was involved in the launch of the first IBM PC compatible computer system in the market. In 1987, Shakti Sagar joined Intergraph India software and the success of this first MNC in the state has encouraged other American companies to set up operations in the city. After heading Intergraph, he played an instrumental role in setting up DE Shaw India Software, a subsidiary of DE Shaw & Co of the US, in 1996. As the managing director, he got the organisation CMM certified (the first investment bank to get this certification). In 1999, Sagar joined ADP Wilco (India), a wholly owned subsidiary of the US-based Automatic Data Processing (ADP).

To help first generation entrepreneurs set up their own ventures and ensure smooth functioning of small and medium scale companies (SMEs), Sagar has evolved an idea of setting up a corpus fund. He has also proposed a plan to encourage product companies in the state by bringing in product leadership in the system. This corpus fund is likely to be operational in 2004 and an incubator facility will also be available.

Sagar is also participating in discussions with the state government for designing a course for mid-level managers, focusing on Emotional Quotient (EQ). “People join an organisation attracted by its goodwill, brand image, etc, and leave the job because of the immediate boss, hence inter-personal relationships are very vital role in retaining quality manpower. The EQ course will focus on the areas of building relationships among employees, apart from soft skills aspect of management. Technical ability is already present in employees, we only need to nurture their ability to work in teams,” adds Sagar.

He believes it is necessary to weed out bad practices from the organisation in order to ensure a good work culture: “A leader has to be a gardener, keeping the garden clean and blossoming. Sometimes odd things should be kept out of the premises otherwise negative influences will affect the rest. I have been a keen observer and this practice helps me locate where the error is. I believe that confidence, sincerity and dedication are the stepping stones to success. Rising from the gross-root level to the current position, I attribute the reason behind this journey to these qualities.”

A man who believes in retaining his friends, his association with A Tyagarajan, V Lakshmikanth, B Balaji (ex-chairman of IACC) and S Ganeshan, has remained for 20 years. All are directors on the board of ADP Wilco. Sagar has two daughters and his wife is a homemaker.