India must become a product nation, says HCL co-founder Ajai Chowdhry

India must become a product nation, says HCL co-founder Ajai Chowdhry

India should start making more products that we own and we must become a product nation, said Ajai Chowdhry, HCL’s co-founder and Author of the book Just Aspire: Notes on Technology, Entrepreneurship and the Future. Pointing out that yesterday every IITian wanted to become a software engineer, he said, “With ChatGPT coming in we don’t need that many programmers. The game has changed and we better realize it very quickly.”

“We need to get into R&D and products that we own in at least 8 or 10 verticals. In pharmaceuticals, we have just been in generic drugs. We should be in products that we own; molecules that we own. That is the change we need to do,” he said during a discussion with Josh Foulger, Managing Director, Bharat FIH Ltd at the Chennai Literature and Art Festival 2023, which was organized by the Chennai International Centre (CIC) and Valley of Words (VoW).

“The opportunity today in creating products for the world is phenomenal,” he noted. He further said that we need to encourage startups also to design.

During the discussion Mr. Foulger asked him about what should students from engineering colleges be taught, Mr.Chowdhry replied: “We should start B.Tech programmes in VLSI Design. Because till now VLSI Design is taught as an M.Tech subject. We are very late, we should have done it 15-20 years ago.” “Today we miss the knowledge of semiconductors,” he noted.

 He also shared details on his passion for poetry and how music was an integral part of his life. He recollected memories of playing the tabla and doing performances on stage with his sister.