The man who smiled all the way to the bank

MUMBAI, INDIA: ICICI had a problem of atrophy, as a man remarked in an interview once. He was talking about how the challenge of dealing with youngsters facing atrophy in a year of joining was tackled at his organisation. He was however talking about the time around 1996.

Juggling problems related to change by now would have been a reflex skill for him. He was, after all, the man who had already turned bigger ships around.

Words like private banking, universal banking, customer-service, hospitable staff, faster transactions, friendly managers and many such hygiene factors of today's banking environments were once, as alien as UFOs.

It was an era where financial industry was complacently anchored in the moorings of ‘this is how it has always been'. Banking had a completely different notion in those days, and anyone from our elder generation would not only vouch for that, but would also tell of numerous experiences that can be startling.

But then someone entered the scene. He started his career in 1971 at ICICI, which was quintessentially an Indian financial institution that founded ICICI Bank and merged with it in 2002.

Though he moved for a few years to the Asian Development Bank, he returned as the Managing Director & CEO in 1996.

K. Vaman Kamath, now the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Infosys Limited and ICICI Bank, a banking wizard who also has a degree in mechanical engineering, and a management degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; is the person almost synonymous with the transformation that impacted not only ICICI but also the banking landscape as a whole.

He transformed this institution into a diversified, technology-driven financial services group that today claims leadership positions across banking, insurance and asset management in India, and an international presence.

Honours like the Padma Bhushan (in 2008) or titles like "Businessman of the Year" by Forbes Asia or "Business Leader of the Year" by The Economic Times, India or CII's president (2008-09) are just glimpses of what he has achieved.

Not just a business guy, a smart geek as well

What also makes ICICI a pioneer in putting Oracle into place was his ideas.

He ensured that the dead wood in his organization, whether systems or people are given the right attention.

As he shared in media conversations, concepts like ‘parking' or ‘golden handshakes' or introducing ‘meritocracy to ensure people leave gracefully' need a new approach of thinking whenever organizational change is in consideration.

He exemplified how the "organizational chain must be free, the flow has to be free, you can't have anyone clogging it."

Same way he did not get scared of marrying the two words together - Indian customer and technology.

From ATMs, Internet banking, CBS, call centres to new banking products; he made it all possible.

Communication is a key tool he has shared he has always used, whether it was dealing with emotional breakdowns or ironing out structural or technical kinks.

Relationship groups, a concept that he introduced exemplifies how magic works when senior managers are allowed to tell top bosses how they plan to run their business.ICICI leveraged all breakthroughs in computing power at the right time.

KV Kamath had aggressive plans for growth, as soon as he joined ICICI as the captain.

In a short period, ICICI got listed on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, and turned the first ever Indian financial institution to go the American Depositary Receipts, ADR route as well.

The Internet threat that banks faced in 1999 did not scare him.

In fact, in his very first phase with ICICI's Project Finance Division, he brought digitization, changing the very orbit of how ICICI steered technology.

The important part, as he prefers to note in a media discussion though is, that the division's computerization also changed the relationship between machines and individuals.

"Technology was once supposed to be the master and users were slaves."

No doubt that soon, the Asian Banker Journal of Singapore granted him the title of the most e-savvy CEO present in Asia for his smart computerization efforts.

His recipe, as he has spilled once in a media report, is about breaking the complex.

"When in a problem, everybody knows the problem, and any amount of analysis is done, but most often no decision comes out from that analysis.

Ultimately the decision needs to be taken from the gut." A magazine quoted.

Any project, IT or otherwise followed the 90-day rule thanks to his emphasis. When you ask why projects can't be done in 90 days or less, it usually works.

Making the most of concepts like ‘grapevine' or ‘resistance management' or ‘mixing professional spheres with entrepreneurship' or thinking of disruptions like ‘rural banking'; the leader has walked the talk, and made great strides in the so-called-impossible realms.

Currently, as he holds some reins of another great agent of transformation - Infosys, bringing his massive and deep experience from the leading private sector bank in the country; many are excited at what can happen next. A global acquisition strategy or putting huge cash reserves to a good use are some initial thought directions that have started emerging.

With a change agent like him, any organization can surely, well, ‘bank on him'.