Som Mittal

With more than three decades of experience in the IT and automotive sector, Som Mittal is a seasoned Indian business executive. Having served in leadership positions at multinational companies like HP and Wipro, Mittal has a strong command over the dynamics of the IT industry at an international level. From work at the institutional level with trade associations, he has also become a skilled public policy advocate. The Financial Express of India called him an industry “doyen.”.

Mittal received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and a Master of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He began his career in the engineering and automotive industry serving at Larsen & Toubro, Escorts and Denso from 1975 to 1989. During this time period he set up green field manufacturing facilities imbibing Japanese technology and practices.

After a successful stint in the automotive industry, Mittal began working for the IT services and consulting services company Wipro as Chief Executive. He was responsible for building the peripherals business in collaboration with Seiko Epson and later led the integrated PC and Server business unit. He remained with Wipro through 1994.

Mittal spent the following 14 years in various leadership roles at Digital/HP/Compaq. He has been credited with the successful turnaround of Digital and very effective integration of successive mergers with Compaq and HP. He held many Global roles and finally was the senior vice president of services for HP in Asia Pacific and Japan. Through these positions Mittal learned to extract the most value from mergers and successfully manage joint ventures and creating green field businesses.

Most recently Mittal served as President of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), a position held since 2008. As such, he has worked tirelessly to advance the interests of IT and Business Process Outsourcing companies with headquarters in India. Under his tenure, the industry has grown from $60 billion in 2008 to $108 billon in 2013 during the most turbulent economic environment. He also set up the Data Security Council of India which promotes data protection and develops best practices for security and privacy.

In addition to fostering the financial success of this sector, Mittal has liaised with government representatives worldwide. Recently this has meant educating American policymakers about the competitive edge Indian IT companies bring to their economy. The Financial Express called Mittal’s term leading NASSCOM “unarguably successful.”

Throughout his career, Mittal has worked with a wide range of organizations. He served as a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Committee on National e-Governance, as board member Institutes of Technology and the Global Advisory Council of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, among other roles. He is a frequent speaker at International and National conferences and is currently on several Boards and associated with several NGOs.

Collectively these experiences have made Mittal a business executive who knows how to build and create institutions. He has worked closely with top Indian officials to help make India an attractive place for foreign investment and been active in several free trade agreements. Recently the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) recognized him with a lifetime achievement award for outstanding dedication to the growth of the Global ICT industry. Other achievements include Business Leader of the Year by Rotary International and a distinguished alumni award from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.