Premji Quotes & Sayings

Certain product lines are more suited to be manufactured in proximity with the customer, while others are more suitable to be manufactured in India. — Azim Premji

Character is one factor that will guide all our actions and decisions.
We invested in uncompromising integrity that helped us take difficult stands in some of the most difficult business situations. — Azim Premji

There are millions of children today who don't attend school. However, education is the only way to get ahead in this country. — Azim Premji

You have students in America, in Britain, who do not want to be engineers. Perhaps it is the workload, I studied engineering, and I know what a grind it is. — Azim Premji

We run courses for government school teachers on Sundays. These teachers pay for their own food and stay; the kind of commitment you find in these people is remarkable. — Azim Premji

Our experience is that it is not terribly difficult to do business in China. But the issue is, how much stability do you have in terms of what you negotiate up front and when you've got your feet and your investments on the ground. — Azim Premji

If one has been blessed or have been fortunate enough to have got much more than normal wealth, it is but natural that one expects a certain fiduciary responsibility in terms of how that wealth is applied, used and leveraged for purposes of society. — Azim Premji

The Indian community in Canada has integrated much better than the Indian community in United States. They've become really Canadian at the same time as keeping all their Indian characters and customs and social groups. — Azim Premji

My company believes in hiring people based on merit. — Azim Premji

I think that any wealth creates a sense of trusteeship ... it is characteristic of the new generation which has created wealth to have some amount of responsibility for it. — Azim Premji

We give people major responsibilities even if they are only 60 per cent ready. Our experience is that people are pretty elastic when you give them responsibility, and they just grow rapidly with the job. — Azim Premji

You cannot mandate philanthropy. It has to come from within, and when it does, it is deeply satisfying. — Azim Premji

People have to take control of their own lives. Education is key because it also raises other social indicators like healthcare. — Azim Premji

Frankly, I don't know how many companies there are, globally, which are truly global. — Azim Premji

I can't have my employees sitting in traffic when they should be in the office. Spending two-and-half hours in the car is a huge waste of productive time. — Azim Premji

The test of our social commitment and humanity is how we treat the most powerless of our fellow citizens, the respect we accord to our fellow human beings. That is what reveals our true culture. — Azim Premji

If people are not laughing at your goals, your goals are too small. — Azim Premji

I.B.M. was not really bringing their best technologies to India. They were dumping old machines in the country that had been thrown away in the rest of the world 10 years before. — Azim Premji

You cannot have a society where you spend more than you earn. I mean, it's just fundamentally not viable in the long run. — Azim Premji

The U.S. is a complex country. It has a high predominance of immigrants who have been eminently successful. — Azim Premji

Success is achieved twice. Once in the mind and the second time in the real world. — Azim Premji

We believe this combination of excellence in operations and strong execution of our strategy is critical to achieve our vision. We will continue to focus on both in future as well. — Azim Premji

With the attention I got on my wealth, I thought I would have become a source of resentment, but it is just the other way around - it just generates that much more ambition in many people. — Azim Premji

People are the key to success or extraordinary success. — Azim Premji

The strategic initiatives we propose to undertake as part of our plan over the next few years position us well to lead this evolution. — Azim Premji

If the United States wants access to Chinese, Indian or Vietnamese markets, we must get access to theirs. U.S. protectionism is very subtle but it is very much there. — Azim Premji

As an advisor, I can say what I want. If I were a politician, I would constantly have to compromise, and I'm incapable of doing that. — Azim Premji

How can you contribute towards building the Indian society and the Indian nation? No better way than to upgrade the quality of young people in school, particularly the schools which are run by the state government in the villages. — Azim Premji

Talent is in short supply everywhere. At Wipro, we are training nonengineers to be engineers. — Azim Premji

Colleges produce more sports therapists than engineers. Perhaps because America is a sporty country: a lot of outdoors. — Azim Premji

Being in the consumer business helps us groom talent in areas like marketing, finance and logistics. We can benchmark our outsourcing business to our consumer business and its best practices. — Azim Premji

I can speak English. I can speak Hindi. I can understand one or two other languages. — Azim Premji

Even if a media of a TV is not available in a home, there's this concept of community homes, where a reasonably well-off villager will have a TV - and a nice TV - and he'll keep it outside the house in the evenings. — Azim Premji

Over these years, I have irrevocably transferred a significant part of the shareholding in Wipro, amounting to 39% of the shares of Wipro, to a trust. — Azim Premji

I want Wipro to be among the top ten IT companies in the world. — Azim Premji

Always bear in mind that our own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing." - Abraham Lincoln6/26"One must have strategies to execute dreams. — Azim Premji

The Western world loves liberalisation, provided it doesn't affect them. — Azim Premji

There are 600 districts in India. Every district in India has a teacher-training institute. — Azim Premji

As you get bigger, you have to learn to delegate. — Azim Premji

I think the most important reason for our success is that very early in our quest into globalisation, we invested in people - and we have done that consistently and particularly in the service business. — Azim Premji

I was 21 and had spent the last few years in Stanford University Engineering School at California. Many people advised me to take up a nice, cushy job rather than face the challenges of running a hydrogenated oil business. Looking back, I am glad I decided to take charge instead. Essentially leadership begins from within. It is a small voice that tells you where to go when you feel lost. If you believe in that voice, you believe in yourself. — Azim Premji

A girl child who is even a little bit educated is more conscious of family planning, health care and, in turn, her children's own education. — Azim Premji

The early years were more about learning than about acting.
I had to carry on my father's work, which was a big challenge. — Azim Premji

You cannot underestimate the value of luck in success in life. And I've really learned to appreciate that. — Azim Premji

The important thing about outsourcing or global sourcing is that it becomes a very powerful tool to leverage talent, improve productivity and reduce work cycles. — Azim Premji

When the rate of change outside is more than what is inside, be sure that the end is near. — Azim Premji

There's a reasonable amount of traction in college education, particularly engineering, because quite a lot of that is privatized, so there is an incentive to set up new colleges of reasonably high quality. — Azim Premji

All our hiring staff are trained to interview in English. They're trained to look for Westernized segments because we deal with global customers. — Azim Premji

There are three lessons in philanthropy - one, involve the family, especially the spouse. She can be a remarkable driver of your initiative. Two, you need to build an institution, and you need to scale it up. Choose a leader for philanthropy whom you trust. Three, philanthropy needs patience, tenacity and time. — Azim Premji

One of the pre - requisites for children becoming proactive and responsible citizens is the availability of enough role models inside and outside the school. — Azim Premji

I think the advantage of democracy is that it makes us less dependent on a group of leaders. — Azim Premji

You cannot get into business for the fashion of it. — Azim Premji

I strongly believe that those of us, who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged — Azim Premji

We've always seen ourselves as Indian. We've never seen ourselves as Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Buddhists. — Azim Premji

You must get engaged with people who are far less privileged than you. I think you must devote your time if not your resources ... Because it is very, very important from the point of view of the development of our country. — Azim Premji

We entered the global market only in the end-'80s, and that was because imports became more liberal. — Azim Premji

The three ordinary things that we often don't pay enough attention to, but which I believe are the drivers of all success, are hard work, perseverance, and basic honesty. — Azim Premji

In our way of working, we attach a great deal of importance to humility and honesty; With respect for human values, we promise to serve our customers with integrity. — Azim Premji

Inflation is taking up the poverty line, and poverty is not just economic but defined by way of health and education. — Azim Premji

The responsibility of philanthropy rests with us. The wealthier we are, the more powerful we get. We cannot put the entire onus on the government. — Azim Premji

The concept of the strong linkage to the family is breaking down in Western nations. — Azim Premji

Leadership is the self-confidence of working with people smarter than you. — Azim Premji

The public/private partnerships are taking various forms in India. It is individuals who are socially oriented are setting up schools. They're setting up colleges. They're setting up universities. They're setting up primary-education schools in the villages, particularly the villages their original families came from. — Azim Premji