ARUN NETRVALI

Arun Netravali
Famous As Scientist
Born On 26 May 1946
Born In Mumbai, India
Nationality Indian
 Arun Netravali is an Indian born American technology stalwart who revolutionized the face of visual communications with his groundbreaking inventions. The head honcho of Bell Laboratories, Netravali has quite a slew of laurels to his name. Hailed as a pioneer in the realms of digital technology, his research and development works towards high definition television is truly commendable and has established him as a technological whiz of sorts. He believes in the mantra that in order to bring about a change and bring in a new invention, one has to be backed by both academics and venture capitalist. Over the years, he has obtained a number of patent rights to a number of technologies in the field of computer systems, parts of human-machine interface, digital imaging and digital television. Apart from his inventions, he is also appreciated for his business acumen and leadership qualities. What's more, this technological virtuoso has authored nearly 170 papers, and co-authored several books.
Early Life
 Arun Netravali was born on May 26, 1946 in Bombay, present day Mumbai. He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology and later went on to do his masters and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Career
 Netravali is one of those few scientists who has not only made a significant difference in the technological world with his groundbreaking innovations, but has also paved way for newer technologies and ideas. Over the years, he has undertaken several research and development programs to redefine and improvise the existing technology and has also managed to study consumer related issues. His partnership with Bell Labs has not only resulted in a dramatic change in the technical world, but has influenced the company's market value as well. Being the Vice President of research department, he focused on areas like communication, computing and physical sciences. His contributions towards Bell Labs have been immense. Many business analysts state that his contribution has been vital to the organization for bringing Bell Labs to a leading position in the market. He has been the primary person responsible for the creation of picture synthesis, processing, compression of picture and image sequences. This has altered television viewing from analog to digital broadcasting, cable TV, DBS, HDTV, and facilitated a range of new collection of products and services that has revolutionized the face of multimedia. He has been the managing director and a member of the board for various organizations. Arun has also been a professor in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, City College, New York, Columbia University and Rutgers University.
Achievements and Awards
 Arun has published hundreds of essays on various technical aspects that interested him. He has also been the co-author for three books - 'Digital Picture Representation and Compression', 'Visual Communications Systems' and 'Digital Video: An Introduction to MPEG-2'. Over the years, he has been honored with several prestigious awards. He has been the recipient of Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1991), an EMMY for the HDTV Grand Alliance (1994), the Computers & Communications Prize, (1997), the Frederik Philips Award from the IEEE (2000), the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies in India) Medal (2000), and the Kilby Medal from the IEEE (2001). He has also received the Padam Bhushan from the Indian government as a token of recognition for his gargantuan contributions in digital telecommunication.
Personal Life
 Arun Netravali is married to Dr. Chitra and the couple has two children - a daughter named Ilka and a son Ravi. Ilka has done her Ph.D. from Harvard Medical College while his son is a student at Columbia University.
Time Line
1946: Arun Netravali was born on May 26 in Mumbai.
1991: Alexander Graham Bell Medal was awarded to him.
2000: NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies in India) Medal.
2001: Arun was honored with a Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government.
2002-2003: Served as the Chief Scientist for Lucent Technologies Inc
2004: Became the Managing Partner of OmniCapital Group LLC.
2007: Join the Board of Members of LSI Logic.

VINOD KHOSLA

Born On 28January 1955
Born In Delhi, India
Nationality Indian American
 Vinod Khosla is an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist who grabbed all eyeballs with his investment deals. Considered as one of the most influential persons in the Silicon Valley, Vinod Khosla is better known as the co-founder of noted firm Sun Microsystems. After working for two years in Sun Microsystems, he left the company to become a successful venture capitalist. He always wanted to be successful and dreamt of establishing his own firm. He joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers where he invented new ideas in venture capitalism. He is one of those few entrepreneurs and venture capitalists whose ideas and interpretation about global market has made him popular. His own venture capital firm called Khosla Ventures established in 2004 created history with its strategic rules and brilliant work. Vinod Khosla was among the first venture capitalist to visualize that a combination of internet technology and fiber optics could make communications so fast, cheap and easy. As a visionary, Khosla has played important role in starting and helping companies that are involved in the field of multimedia, semiconductors, video games, Internet software and computer networking.
Early Life
 Vinod Khosla was born on January 28, 1955 in New Delhi. He earned a B.Tech degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. After completing his graduation, he attempted to start his own company, a dream that he had since age 15, but the venture failed. Then he went to the United States to get his M. S. degree in Biomedical Sciences from the Carnegie Mellon and later did his M.B.A from the Stanford University in 1979. At the Stanford, Khosla found a business idea and partners from the Stanford Club. They founded a computer aided and design company- Daisy Systems but the venture failed because of economic problems.
Career
 The India born venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla is one of the most influential persons of the Silicon Valley. Vinod Khosla is in Forbes magazine's list of America's richest 400 people. Vinod Khosla is a world renowned venture capitalist and is revolutionizing communications through technology. He rose into fame at the age of 27 when he co-founded the Sun Microsystems with a German student and his Stanford classmate Andreas Bechtolsheim, Scott McNealy and UC Berkeley. Vinod Khosla served Sun Microsystems as Chairman and CEO from 1982 to 1984 and later left the company to discover his dreams in venture capitalism. In order to make his dreams true he joined a venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as a general Partner. In this company he was noted for several successful investments which got him recognition as a popular venture capitalist. Vinod Khosla was among the first few venture capitalists to visualize that a combination of internet technology and fiber optics could make communications so fast, cheap and easy.
 As a visionary, Khosla has played important role in starting and helping companies that are involved in the field of multimedia, semiconductors, video games, Internet software and computer networking. He has also invested in firms like Indian Microfinance NGO and SKS Microfinance which provide loan for women in ruler India. The biggest virtue of Khosla is that he doesn't just spread cash, but nurtures and supports beginners. Vinod Khosla has won accolades and admiration because of his ability to visualize business opportunities in right perspective. Khosla is not satisfied only in planning but takes active part in the implementation part as well. Vinod Khosla was instrumental in creation of Cerent Corp, juniper Networks, Viant, Extreme Networks, Lightera etc. Vinod Khosla is also one of the founding fathers of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). With his knowledge in global investment and marketing strategies, most of his ventures were successful. According to Forbes's magazine list he is one of the three billionaire of Indian origin among the 400 richest persons of America.
 To make his dreams true he formed his own venture capital firm called Khosla Ventures in 2004. The firm is established in Menlo Park, California which manages nearly $1 billion capital. In 2009, Khosla completed his million dollars of fundraising to invest in cleantech and information technology, which created revolution in the global market.
Personal Life
 Vinod deeply believes in closeness of family and lives in Woodside, CA with his wife and four daughters.
Timeline
1955: Vinod Khosla was born.
1979: Received his MBA from Stanford University.
1982: He co-founded the form Sun Microsystems along with others.
1986: He joined venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
2004: He founded his own venture capital firm called Khosla Ventures.

VINOD DAHM

Famous As
Entrepreneur and Inventor
Born On 1950
Born In Pune, India
Nationality American
 A famous entrepreneur, an originator and a venture capitalist, Vinod Dahm is indeed one of the famous Indians to leave an indelible impression on the global map. His works in chip designing and several other semiconductor fields has created a revolution in information technology. His incredible contribution in making and developing Pentium Processor of Intel created frenzy in the global technological and earned him the tag of 'Father of Pentium Processor'. Being a mentor, advisor and investor, he has worked in many firms and has always tried to bring in something different and innovative through his projects. Some of the companies he has worked for are NexGen, Silicon Spice, NCR and Indo US Venture Partners. Presently working as the lead of Indo US Venture, he has helped to upgrade many Indian companies too. As recognition for his works and achievements, he was honored and awarded by several organizations.
Early Life
 Vinod Dahm was born in 1950 in Pune, India. His father, a civilian working under army, was originally from Rawalpindi but moved to India during the partition. Vinod Dahm completed his early education from Pune and then pursued his graduation in electrical engineering from Delhi College of Engineering in the year 1971. After completing his engineering, he worked for a brief period in a Delhi based semiconductor company. Later in 1975, at the age of twenty-five, he went to US and obtained his master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.
Career
 After completing his masters, Vinod Dahm joined National Cash Register (NCR) at Dayton, Ohio in 1977. During his presentation at IEEE conference in Monterrey, California, he received an offer to join Intel. He accepted the offer and joined the leading semiconductor company of the world, Intel. In 1990, Vinod was made the in-charge of Pentium processor project. He put his soul and heart into this project and made it the biggest hit in the global market. With the success of Pentium Processor, he was hailed as the 'Father of Pentium Chip'. His knowledge and impressive entrepreneur skills made him the Vice President of Intel's Microprocessor Products Group. However, he left Intel in 1995 and joined NexGen. Being the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of NexGen, he brought about a revolutionary change in the company. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) later acquired this firm where he developed popular K6 processor, the fastest computer processor in the world. After quitting AMD, he went to lead his new startup company Silicon Space in 1998. However, he sold the company to Broadcom in 2000. Currently he manages the firm called Indo US Venture Partners founded by him. During his travel to India in 2001, he was pleased by the strategic technological growth of India and decided to help the companies in the country with his hardware and chip designing technologies. Today, with the hard work of Vinod Dham and his fellow partners, Indo US Venture Partners is helping many companies with their innovative chip designs. Over last few years, the Indo US Venture Partners has created waves in various sectors including software, education, finance, healthcare etc.
Awards and Recognition
 Vinod Dham as received various awards and recognition for his extraordinary work in semi conductor field. Considering the profound work of Vinod Dham in semiconductor field, he was named as one of the top 25 executives in Computer industries of US in the year 1993. In 2000, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve the Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In January 2001, the noted magazine of India the 'India Today' listed Vinod Dham as one among the 'Global Indian Achievers'. In 2007, Dahm was profiled at the Parvasi Bhartiya Diwas, organized by organized by Indian Overseas Affairs of Indian government. This is considered as one the highest recognition for global Indians. Vinod Dahm was honored with NRI Achievement Award at the NRI Global Summit held in 2009. Dham was also profiled among the notable Indian American achievers by Asian American Program.
Personal Life
 Vinod Dahm is married to Sadhana and has two sons.
Timeline
1950: Vinod Dahm was born in Pune, India.
1971: He completed his Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering.
1975: Obtained his Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.
1979: He Joined Intel.
1995: He left Intel and joined a company called NexGen.
1998: He went on to a lead a new company called Silicon Spice.
2006: Co-founded Indo-US Ventures.

LORD SWARAJ PAUL

Famous As
Philanthropist, Multi- millionaire Businessman and Labor Politician
Born On 1931
Born In  Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Nationality British
 Lord Swaraj Paul, the founder of multinational company Caparo Groups - the UK based steel and engineering firm, is known for his contributions in the industrial domain. From running a small foundry to becoming one of the top steel tycoons, this India-born steel magnate has created waves in the UK business world with his humungous business ventures. Despite of being one of the most affluent NRI's staying in Britain, Baron Paul strongly adheres to 'simple living and high thinking'. He has contributed a great deal towards the welfare of the society through his charitable trusts that has only helped to boost his standing as a philanthropist but has also won him great recognition. Because of his charitable works, he was knighted by British Queen and was honored with the title 'Lord of Marylebone'. Apart from this, Lord Swaraj Paul has been awarded with the prestigious Padma Bhushan for his unsurpassable feats and deeds.
Early Life
 Swaraj Paul was born in 1931 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. His father ran a small foundry, making steel buckets, tubs, trunks and various farming equipments. Swaraj Paul was educated at Forman Christian College in India and later went on to obtain his master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. On his return to India, Swaraj joined the Appeejay Surendra Group founded by his father. With the contributions of Swaraj Paul and his brothers, Appeejay Surendra Group grew into one of the noted industrial groups of India. It was a twist of fate that he had to visit London in 1966 to get his daughter cured of leukemia. After the sad demise of his daughter, he decided to stay back in London. He started his new journey by creating Caparo Groups in 1968, which he dedicates to the memory of his daughter. Under his wings, he expanded his business by conquering one after other steel companies. Lord Swaraj Paul stepped down from the management of the Caparo group in 1996, handing over his empire to his three sons. Despite being one of the richest persons in the U.K, Lord Paul practices a very simple life.
Career
 The Caparo Group established by him became one of the leading producers of welded steel tube and spiral welded pipes in UK. The Sunday times listed Lord Paul as 88th richest person in Britain. The Portland Place, where he lives speaks volumes about his richness. He also owns 250-acres of estate, The Grange, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. Although the name, fame and money has made him an eminent figure in the business circles, the values and culture that he got from his family and parents is what really defines him. One of the greatest things about Lord Paul was his contributions towards the needy. The Ambika Paul Foundation established in the memory of his daughter gets the part of the benefits of Caparo Groups, which is used in many charitable works. For example, being the respectful member of London Zoological Society, Lord Paul funded the major projects at the Regent's Park. He also donated huge sum for Labour Party. Considering the achievements and charitable works of Lord Paul, he was knighted by British Queen as 'Lord Paul of Marylebone' and an honorary member of House of Lords. In December 2008, he was appointed as the deputy speaker of the Lords. He is the first Indian origin to rise to such a respectful post. In October 2008, he was selected to Privy Council. However, he shortly resigned from his post owing to many controversies that rose against his property. But he was relieved form all issues.
Achievements and Awards
 Lord Paul has received various awards. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1983. He was also bestowed with many prestigious honors including the Pro-Chancellorship of the Thames University (1998) and its Governorship (1992-97), Chancellorship of Wolver Hampton University and University of Westminster. He was honored with Bharat Gaurav award by the Indian Merchant's Chamber. He is a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Foreign Policy Centre Advisory Council and MIT's Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee. He is the chairman of Olympic Delivery Committee which is set to look after the infrastructural arrangements for London Olympics in 2012.
Timeline
1931: Lord Swaraj Paul was born.
1966: Lord Paul went to London to get his daughter cured of Leukemia.
1968: Found Caparo Groups.
1983: Received Padma Bhushan Award
1996: Stepped down from the management of Caparo Groups.
2008: He was appointed as the deputy speaker of the Lords.
2008: Received Asian Woman Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award
2009: Resigned from deputy speaker position due to various issues created around his property.

SABEER BHATIA

Sabeer Bhatia was born in India in 1968, the son of a Defense Ministry official and a Central Bank official. Two years into his undergraduate education at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, he transferred to Caltech in the United States. After graduation he attended Stanford in the pursuit of his Master's degree in electrical engineering, and became introduced to Silicon Valley culture. He abandoned his plans for a doctorate in favor of a job with Apple Computers.

After a few years at Apple, Bhatia worked for Firepower Systems for two years, while tinkering on his own with ideas related to the internet and the increasing opportunities there. He and Jack Smith, a former Apple colleague, worked together on Javasoft, a web-based database that made them aware of the potential benefits of a web-based email system that wouldn't require a separate client or reside on any particular machine. Hotmail was not provided by any ISP or educational institution, and therefore your email address wouldn't change if you moved, graduated, or changed jobs -- the mail was stored online, and you could read it from any online computer -- and it required no special software. Like many early web ventures, Hotmail -- a name derived from the web's markup language HTML -- was free to use, with revenues generated from ad sales. The service launched on the Fourth of July, 1996.

By the end of the year, Hotmail had one million subscribers. The following year, Microsoft bought the company -- which had been started with a $300,000 investment only eighteen months earlier -- for $400 million. Bhatia took a job with Microsoft until April 1999, when he started Arzoo Inc., which didn't survive the dissipation of the dotcom bubble. He's been involved in a number of ventures since then, including Live Documents -- which, just as Hotmail shifted email activity to the web, shifts Microsoft Office-like activity online, allowing users to share or collaborate on documents, or simply sync them and work from different machines. Live Documents premiered in November of 2007.

INDRA NOOYI

Ever wonder how to be influential and reach the top of the world?. Here’s the inspiring story of CEO of PepsiCo and the Fortune / Time magazine’s most influential women in the world – the Chennai born Indra Krishnamoorthy Nooyi:
It’s a simple story of a powerful woman. A story of an Indian girl who came from conservative Chennai to pursue higher studies in the US with little money and no safety net. If she failed, she failed. A story of this determined girl, who while studying in Connecticut, worked as a receptionist from midnight to sunrise to earn money and struggled to put together US$50 to buy herself a western suit for her first job interview out of Yale, where she had just completed her masters. Incidentally, she wasn’t comfortable trying out a formal western outfit and ended up buying trousers that reached down only till her ankles. Rejected at the interview, she turned to her professor at the school who asked her what she would wear if she were to be in India. To her reply that it would be a sari, the professor advised her to “be yourself” and stick to what she was comfortable with. She wore a sari for her next interview. She got the job and has followed this philosophy for the rest of her career. She’s been herself, never tried to change her basic beliefs, derived strength from her traditions and believed in who she is. As she says, “I’m so secure in myself, I don’t have to be American to play in the corporate life.” She worked hard and in time was counted as one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes. In this edition of ‘My Story’ we present Indra Nooyi, President & Chief Financial Officer PepsiCo, Inc – a story that is both inspiring in its simplicity and grand in its achievement.
It all began years ago in Chennai, where she studied hard in school to get her grades. She remembers how her mother would, after meal every day ask Indra and her sister what would they like to become when they grew up. They would come up with different ideas and their mother would reward the best idea each day. It forced Indra to think and dream for herself. It was this dream that led her to be a part of the 11th batch of IIM Kolkata. After two years of work with Johnson & Johnson and Mettur Beardsell in India, it was this fiery urge that took her to America in 1978, when she left India with barely any money to pursue a management degree from the prestigious Yale Graduate School of Management.
Starting off with Boston Consulting Group in 1980, she knew it would be harder work for her than others for two reasons – one, she was a woman and two, she wasn’t an American but an outsider. She spent six years directing international corporate strategy projects at the Boston Consulting Group. Her clients ranged from textiles and consumer goods companies to retailers and specialty chemicals producers. Six years later, she joined Motorola in 1986 as the vice-president and director of corporate strategy & planning. She moved to Asea Brown Boveri in 1990 and spent four years as vice president (corporate strategy & planning). She was part of the top management team responsible for the company’s U.S. business as well as its worldwide industrial businesses, generating about one-third of ABB’s $30 billion in global sales.
An interesting tale surrounds her joining PepsiCo in 1994. At that time she also had an offer from General Electric, one of the world’s best run companies under Jack Welch. The Pepsi CEO Wayne Callloway, in a bid to lure her, told her, “Jack Welch (GE’s legendary boss) is the best CEO I know, and GE is probably the finest company. But I have a need for someone like you, and I would make PepsiCo a special place for you.” Nooyi agreed.
She broke the glass ceiling when she was appointed senior vice president, corporate strategy and development after joining PepsiCo in 1994 but she knew that getting there was one thing while staying there was another. As she says, “If you want to reach the top of a company, I agree that it can only happen in the United States, but you have to start off saying that you have got to work twice as hard as your (male) counterparts.” Not only did she work harder than her counterparts, she also made her way up the ladder to become President and Chief Financial Officer of PepsiCo, and was also appointed as a member of board of directors of PepsiCo Inc – which she assumed in 2001.
Nooyi was 44 when she joined PepsiCo. Ever since, she has been involved in every major strategic decision the company has made in the last few years. That includes the drive to spin off PepsiCo’s fast food chain in 1997, acquiring Tropicana in 1998, and the US$ 13 billion move to acquire Quaker Oats. PepsiCo chief Roger Enrico announced her elevation following the Quaker acquisition saying, “Indra’s contributions to PepsiCo have been enormous and she will make a great President. In addition to her new role as President and CFO, Indra will also be nominated for election to the Pepsi board. She is a terrific addition to our world-class board and her perspective will be invaluable.”
Indra attributes a lot of Pepsi’s success to its great employees. She believes that a company remains great when there is a strong competitor, like Coke. She believes if you have no competition, a company will atrophy. Nooyi has a unique formula that keeps her work-life balance. She feels that you must have an extended family at work to give you that balance. To keep a company running at top speed, you need to attract the best employees.
At PepsiCo she has ensured that employees actually balance life and work. She views PepsiCo as an extended family and everybody at the company is there to help in every way possible. Sometime ago, when Indra was traveling, her daughter would call the office to ask for permission to play Nintendo. The receptionist would know the routine and ask: “Have you finished your homework? Have you had your snack? OK, you can play Nintendo for half an hour”. She then left a voice message for Indra saying “I gave Tara permission to play Nintendo”. Unheard of in most corporations, it’s a team Indra has built up at PepsiCo which knows each other so well.
Despite the monumental successes of her career, Indra Nooyi remains a quintessentially Indian woman who has combined the high-octane energy of her job with the calm, collected demeanour required to manage the equally central responsibility of a mother and a wife. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Fairfax county, Connecticut. If you ever visit her Connecticut home, do remember to take your shoes off before entering. If you forget, at least remember to take them off before entering the large puja room where a diya is lit and the inviting air of incense greets you. She keeps an image of Ganesha in her office, and in fact, some PepsiCo officials visited India and received similar images besides being told of the Hindu belief about Ganesh being the symbols of auspicious beginnings. Many of them now keep images of Ganesh in their offices! Nooyi attends PepsiCo board meetings in a sari; for she believes the corporate world appreciates people who are genuine.
At work, Nooyi is in the pressure cooker world of intriguing business maneuvres and frenetic multi-million dollar moves but when she enters her home, it is like entering a sanctuary of calm. She says Carnatic music plays in their home 18 hours a day, and the feeling is much like being in a temple. Does she think her religious convictions help her to do a better job in the corporate world? “I don’t know about a better job, but it certainly makes me calm,” she says. “There are times when the stress is so incredible between office and home, trying to be a wife, mother, daughter-in-law and corporate executive. Then you close your eyes and think about a temple like Tirupati, and suddenly you feel ‘Hey–I can take on the world.’ Hinduism floats around you, and makes you feel somehow invincible.”
Is it tough being a mother and a corporate executive? Nooyi admits it is difficult, “You can walk away from the fact that you’re a corporate executive, but you can’t walk away from the fact that you are a mom. In terms of being a mother and a corporate executive, the role of mom comes first.” She believes that her husband has been a great source of strength for her. Adds Nooyi on a perkier tone, “Always pick the right husband. I have a fantastically supportive husband.” What sees her through tough times? “My family and my belief in God. If all else fails, I call my mother in India when she’s there–and wake her up in the middle of the night–and she listens to me. And she probably promises God a visit to Tirupati!” Nooyi has always seen the world through the prism of her mother’s faith and beliefs and calls her the guiding light in her life.
Read more about the inspiring achievement story of Nooyi here: Story of Indra Nooyi.

ARUN SARIN

Born:
October 21, 1954
Achievement: CEO of global mobile telecommunications company
 Vodafone Group Plc.
 Arun Sarin is the Chief Executive Officer of the British based global mobile telecommunications company Vodafone Group Plc. He is one of the few Indians to head a global multi national company.
 Arun Sarin was born on October 21, 1954 at Panchmari, Madya Pradesh. His father was an army officer and Arun Sarin did his schooling from military boarding school in Bangalore. After schooling, Arun Sareen joined IIT Kharagpur and graduated in 1975. In 1977, he did his MS in Engineering from University of California, Berkeley and subsequently did his MBA from the same university in 1978.
 Arun Sarin started his professional career in 1978 as an environmental analyst for a Washington, D.C., consulting firm. In 1981, he joined Natomas in California as a corporate development manager. Arun Sarin entered telecom industry in 1984, when he joined Pacific Telesis Group in San Francisco. At Pacific Telesis Group, Arun worked closely with Sam Ginn, the legendary telecommunications entrepreneur. He worked with Pacific Telesis in various professional and executive positions for 10 years, and was later appointed vice president of corporate strategy. Arun Sarin left Pacific Telesis in 1994 when it split its mobile and paging businesses.
 In 1995, Arun Sarin followed his mentor Sam Ginn to a newly formed wireless-communications company, AirTouch Communications. He was President and Chief Operating Officer of AirTouch from February 1997 to June 1999. In 1999, AirTouch and Vodafone, a large British wireless communications company joined hands to create Vodafone-AirTouch. Arun Sarin was made chief executive of the newly formed corporate entity. In April 2000, Arun Sarin resigned from Vodafone-AirTouch and took the CEO position at InfoSpace, an Internet infrastructure company based in Bellevue, Washington. As CEO Arun Sarin led the merger of InfoSpace and Go2Net, a consumer-portal company, for approximately $4 billion in a stock swap.
 After an eight-month tenure at InfoSpace, Arun Sarin resigned. In July 2001, he joined Accel Partners and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) to lead a new telecommunications venture called Accel-KKR Telecom. After an eighteen month stint at Accel-KKR Telecom Arun Sarin resigned and on July 30, 2003 he was installed as the CEO of Vodafone.