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This newsleer features highlights from our interacon with alumni who are connuously raising the bar in their chosen profession or doing something completely out of the ordinary. This month, we spoke with Mr. Bimal Patwari , an alumnus from the class of 1990. Bimal is the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Infotech , rated among Top 50 IT Innovators by NASSCOM in 2008. Mr. Bimal Patwari 1988-1990: PGDM, IIM Lucknow 1990-1991: Consultant, A.F.Ferguson 1991-present: Founder & CEO, Pinnacle Infotech Achievers IIM Lucknow Alumni Association Vol 10, April 2011 What has been your career path after graduating from IIM Lucknow? After graduating from IIM Lucknow, I joined A.F.Ferguson, the leading management consultancy rm of our times and very soon realized that I could not work in restricted environment and I was wired to become an Entrepreneur. I could not even complete a year at the job and started Pinnacle in 1991 at Durgapur. Information Technology was the most promising eld and I had an electronics engineering background. Venture capital was unknown in those days I started modestly with a small capital of Rs 5 lakh from my father in a 1000 sq. ft. rented premises. Pinnacle started as a one point IT solution company providing Hardware and Software consultancy, supply, training and support in our region. In 1998 we got the break into the International market and started providing Engineering and Architectural CAD services globally. In 2002 we opened fully operational ofce in USA and today Pinnacle is recognized as the Global leader through its global delivery network In India, USA, Italy and Middle East. Can you please tell us more about your company – Pinnacle Infotech ? Pinnacle Infotech is a global leader in providing engineering and architectural design, modeling and coordination solutions to the international construction industry. We pioneered the Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology which virtually constructs the buildings with all services and enables complete coordination of all utilities before starting construction. Our solutions increase construction efciency and quality, reduce costs (by 5-15%) and help beat the construction schedule. Pinnacle has a world class production center spread over 12 acres (around 3 lakh sq. ft) with a talented team of around 400 architects, engineers and CAD professionals with a thorough understanding of international architectural and construction standards and practices.

Mr. Bimal Patwari, Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Infotech

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Page 1: Mr. Bimal Patwari, Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Infotech

This newsle�er features highlights from our interac�on with alumni

who are con�nuously raising the bar in their chosen profession or

doing something completely out of the ordinary. This month, we

spoke with Mr. Bimal Patwari , an alumnus from the class of 1990.

Bimal is the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Infotech , rated

among Top 50 IT Innovators by NASSCOM in 2008.

Mr.BimalPatwari

1988-1990:PGDM,IIMLucknow

1990-1991:Consultant,A.F.Ferguson1991-present:Founder&CEO,PinnacleInfotech

Achievers

IIM Lucknow Alumni Association Vol 10, April 2011

What has been your career path after graduating from IIM Lucknow? After graduating from IIM Lucknow, I joined A.F.Ferguson, the leading management consultancy rm of our times and very soon realized that I could not work in restricted environment and I was wired to become an Entrepreneur. I could not even complete a year at the job and started Pinnacle in 1991 at Durgapur. Information Technology was the most promising eld and I had an electronics engineering background. Venture capital was unknown in those days I started modestly with a small capital of Rs 5 lakh from my father in a 1000 sq. ft. rented premises. Pinnacle started as a one point IT solution company providing Hardware and Software consultancy, supply, training and support in our region. In 1998 we got the break into the International market and started providing Engineering and Architectural CAD services globally. In 2002 we opened fully operational ofce in USA and today Pinnacle is recognized as the Global leader through its global delivery network In India, USA, Italy and Middle East. Can you please tell us more about your company – Pinnacle Infotech ? Pinnacle Infotech is a global leader in providing engineering and architectural design, modeling and coordination solutions to the international construction industry. We pioneered the Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology which virtually constructs the buildings with all services and enables complete coordination of all utilities before starting construction. Our solutions increase construction efciency and quality, reduce costs (by 5-15%) and help beat the construction schedule. Pinnacle has a world class production center spread over 12 acres (around 3 lakh sq. ft) with a talented team of around 400 architects, engineers and CAD professionals with a thorough understanding of international architectural and construction standards and practices.

Page 2: Mr. Bimal Patwari, Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Infotech

“Entrepreneurs must have a

strong belief in themselves;

passion, high levels of energy

and ability to handle success

and failure in stride”

Pinnacle campus

Achievers

Pinnacle has successfully executed various prestigious global projects, including hospitals, airports, hotels, water treatment plants, power plants, commercial projects, high-rise towers, university buildings, residential projects, and schools. What was the motivation behind choosing Durgapur for starting Pinnacle Infotech ? I was born and brought up in Durgapur. So with limited capital and resources, it was a natural starting point. Durgapur has colleges and research institutes for manpower, stable law and order and decent physical infrastructure. However the city has disadvantages with no eco-system for an IT export unit as we were the lone IT unit operating in the city. We took this as a challenge to put Durgapur on the international map and prove that global leadership can be achieved from a Tier III city by a team mostly from villages and small towns. Almost 80% of our team is still from villages and towns and some of them have to still cycle to reach their home- For more than 90% of our team, it is still their rst job. IT industry is a very dynamic industry. How do you keep pace with the changing trends? Our success lies in understanding the emerging trends before others and responding to it. We regularly meet clients to understand their pains and opportunities with the emerging technology. Our team regularly attends international exhibitions, technology shows and scans the environment. We have created an environment for innovation and everyone is encouraged to experiment and “stretch the technology “. According to NASSCOM, Pinnacle was regarded as one of the Top 100 IT innovators in 2006. How does it feel? It was a proud moment for the whole team and recognition of their hard work and passion for excellence. We got the Nasscom Innovator award in 2007 and again in 2008 we were among the TOP 50 rubbing shoulders with Infosys and TCS. This had put Pinnacle in the same bracket as established large IT players of the country and electried our team.

Page 3: Mr. Bimal Patwari, Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Infotech

Achievers

How did IIM Lucknow help in shaping you as a person, both personally and professionally? In the beginning years, an entrepreneur has to handle all aspects of business – preparing business plan and projects reports, nancial projections and sensitivity analysis, prepare sound HR policies, devise systems and processes. IIM Lucknow gave me the condence and thorough ability to handle all aspects of business. I got a solid foundation in Finance and can challenge any CA / nance professional. The case studies were very useful and I get reminded of those when I land up in similar business situation. I couldn’t appreciate OB at IIM Lucknow but felt the need once the team got bigger. As a person, I learnt to be organized and generate options and evaluate them at each stage. IIM Lucknow helped me in developing team spirit, gave me condence and red aspirations in me. You graduated with the Director’s gold medal from the Institute. Do you think there is any relation between academic success and professional success? Billion dollar question and I would denitely like to sponsor a statistical analysis on this. I often have discussion with our recruitment team about this selection criterion. Wish I had a formula/machine to determine the chances of professional success! A good academic performance does indicate some of the personality traits - ambition, planned approach and hard work. And to get a gold medal at IIM Lucknow, it needs a lot of all these. In our batch everyone was generous to let Kapoor and I get it. It was a case of famous Lucknow hospitality Pahle Aap, Pahle Aap. How was your experience as a student at IIM Lucknow? Any special memories related to institute, professor or friends which you would like to share? Our class size was small – less than 30. So we had a very good student teacher ratio and we got lot of attention and pampering from the faculty. Small batch had some disadvantages as well. Everyone had to participate in the case study and do homework. We had occasions when Professor reached our hostel to check the absentees. So, one could not even fake illness!

Batch outing

Bimal with his family

Page 4: Mr. Bimal Patwari, Founder and CEO of Pinnacle Infotech

Achievers

Hobbies

Reading. I read inspiring books from successful people. Travelling near nature and people. Nature is most inspiring. SO much to learn from simple grass. We crumble it

and it gets totally dried up in scorching heat but turns green and fresh at the smallest opportunity.

Favorite Books

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish Break all the rules

We had some great professors who generated interest in their subjects. “What business we are in!” became our Gurumantra from Prof Krishna Kumar’s Business policy class and this is how our batch mates greet each other even today. When it came to Field study – Consumer behavior buying for refrigerators, air-conditioner etc., we had tested the patience of every household in Aliganj. Initially they loved the attention and greeted us with tea and Thandai but towards the end they had started slamming the doors on us. Hotel Kohinoor had a 24 hours Coffee shop with unlimited rells. We ensured that they changed the policy to 1 rell. I won’t be surprised if they have stopped rell totally. Who are the people who inspired you and why? My grandfather has been my greatest inspiration. He taught me the importance of integrity and hard work in our life. He had seen so many ups and down in his life and his life is an excellent study on how to manage adversity. I have been inspired by the adventures of Akio Morita and the value system and leadership of Dr. Narayana Murthy. Parthiv Patel is my hero in cricket for his “Never give up” attitude. What would be your advice to current PGP batches at IIM Lucknow? Take the course seriously. IT matters whatever you do in life. You need good exposure to all departments. Analyze your strengths and weakness and decide what suits you well. Do not be guided by the herd attitude. What is good for someone may not work well for you. No hurries! Opportunities come at every stage of our life and it is never too late. So don’t get impatient to become entrepreneur immediately. (I still feel I should have worked more for couple of years before taking the plunge!) Jump in when you have the right idea, passion and support system.

Published by the PGP Alumni Committee on behalf of the IIM Lucknow Alumni Association

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