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In the mid-80s managed to convince the higher-ups at the company to start manufacturing of medical equipment in India. In the meantime, he also picked up a management degree from the Institute of Management Sciences at Loyala College in Chennai. His success in bringing manufacturing to India led to a lot of visibility in the organization. He was promoted to the position of all India Business Manager. At the time, Philips also decided to shift its headquarters from Madras to Mumbai. This posed a personal problem since a shift to Mumbai would mean that his wife would have to discontinue her PhD in Genetics. So in 1990, he decided to join Wipro-GE in Bangalore as project manager to produce CT-scanners locally with Japanese collaboration. He reached a decision to manufacture entry-level high volume ultra sound equipment in India. As much as he is committed to his job, Annaswamy is also a devoted family man. When his wife gave birth to a baby boy in 1993, he decided to take a break from the corporate world. An interesting opportunity came in the form of an advisor role to the Ministry of Health in Oman. He moved to Muscat in 1994 along with his family. “It was easier work which allowed me to spend a lot of time with family.” Three years later, he felt the need for a challenge and decided to re-enter the corporate world. Wipro-GE had a job opportunity for him-heading manufacturing operations in India. He plunged into a learning mode and equipped himself with knowledge of manufacturing, operations, quality and materials. He did this role for one and a half years and then became VP, sales, at the company. Going up the ladder In 2000, Annaswamy’s performance caught the attention of GE Medical chief Jeff Immelt who wanted him in a much bigger role in Tokyo as the director and GM of the CT Scanner business. Annaswamy cherishes this work experience in Tokyo where he immersed himself in learning quality and six sigma processes. “It was an outstanding experience working with Japanese people. Their hard work and passion to deliver numbers is outstanding. Nothing is half-shod, ” he says. In 2002, Wipro-GE was on the look out for a person who could head the company operations in India. Annaswamy fit the bill and he shifted back to Bangalore along with his family. However, his experience this time around the toughest he would experience in his career. “Within a few months, I realized that Wipro-GE was in a crisis mode. Throughout my career, I never managed a business that was in a downward spiral. But this downtime proved to be the greatest learning period in his life. “Usually, when you are not the boss, you expect someone else to take the tough decisions. When you are the boss, you have to do it yourself.” Some of these tough decisions were on pricing, cleaning up bad deals and sending out non-performers. He held the team together and gave them the confidence about the future ahead. By 2004, the company had turned around. He and his team earned kudos from both Wipro and GE. A bolt out of the blue In mid-2004, Annaswamy received a call from an IBM headhunter. Usually one to brush aside such calls, he took the call since he was in a “relaxed state”. After extensive meetings and interviews, IBM decided to hire him. Annaswamy is the first Indian national and the only non-IBMer so far to head the company. His predecessor Abraham Thomas was of Indian origin but a Singapore national. He covets IBM’s value system that has given him space to follow his style. Annaswamy has managed to bring in his insights and style of functioning into Big Blue and the results are for all to see. Priya Padmanabhan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The man in (Big) Blue
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