Remembering Dr. A. L. Rao: A Lesson Beyond Leadership;The CXO Who Never Let Power Change Him;The Corporate Lessons We Never Teach.

Dear Friends

In these last 15 years of the Inspire to Innovate Storytelling Movement, I have written one story every week. Many stories are related to corporate success, entrepreneurs’ success, employability, carbon emission, and many other contemporary technology- and lifestyle-related topics.

But this story is personal, yet definitely a life lesson for many aspirational corporate leaders.

Yesterday, Dr. Sridhar Mitta garu, a founding member of Wipro, wrote an emotional post about Dr. A. L. Rao garu, Founding Member of Wipro, on his LinkedIn wall. (www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7484113269713137664/). Wipro Limited echoed a similar emotional post on their wall (https://www.instagram.com/p/Da7quyMsDSx/). Being the former President of Sri Sri University, they also resounded the same (www.instagram.com/p/Da5PZInjQxZ/).

By God's grace, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time closely with A. L. Rao Garu, both personally and professionally. Rao Garu gave me the liberty to walk into his office as well as his home at any time. I also thank his family for graciously tolerating my barging into their home at almost any time of the day.

Many times, once you become a CXO of a large corporation, you act differently at the office and at home. Status, money, power, and network spoil both the individual and the family. For the first time, I saw someone in whom none of these four spoilers had infiltrated. I saw how a CXO can stay calm and composed in the most tense moments.

For certain issues, I become emotional. Like me, many people cannot tolerate even a small pressure situation. However, Dr. Rao remained a typical example of how one can handle pressure without hurting others.

Though we had a huge age gap, we used to share many personal things. In every piece of advice he gave, I saw impartiality, non-judgment, and fairness. The same ethics he exhibited in his professional life.

I used to say, "Many of your colleagues have started companies and become successful entrepreneurs. Why don't you start one? I will dedicate my life to your company." I used to ask this question countless times over the last 30 years.

I am sure Premji Sir would also echo me. He used to say, "I am from a small village near Vizianagaram (Gajapathinagaram). From there, with a small 10×10 office in IISc and a little-known company in those days named Wipro, I got an opportunity in 1980. I had seen one side of life, and Premji Sir gave me a different opportunity that I had never dreamt of in my life. I am indebted to Wipro forever."
The same he lived throughout his life—for Wipro.

He joined as one of the first few members of Wipro, retired as COO, and finally served as an Independent Director of Premji Invest until recent times. He remained loyal to Wipro.

Yesterday, during his last rites, when many founding members of Wipro visited him, I realized how much he had influenced them and how he had breathed Wipro throughout his life. He became the definition of loyalty to an organization.

Probably this influenced me and helped me stay back at Wipro throughout my corporate career. I joined as a fresher and moved out of Wipro only to change my profession to teaching. I admire a leader like Azim Premji Sir, on how much he influenced Rao garu.

Once you have a lot of money, unfortunately, the word simplicity gets erased from life. He remained so humble and simple in his thought process and never allowed success to influence his lifestyle.

25 years back, One day, early in the morning around 4:30 a.m., he had to go to the airport to catch a flight. The car did not arrive on time. I asked, "Shall I drop you on my two-wheeler?" Without a second thought, he said yes.

I see two elements in this—Work First attitude and staying grounded in the face of uncertainty.

I have seen many leaders shout at the driver or cancel the flight. He did not say a single word and simply moved on.

I cannot write everything in this blog. He remained resilient through many personal instances as well.

Many times, we ignore our family while being busy professionally. However, he was deeply connected to every family member and provided customized support, including special care for extended family members. Many corporate leaders and Gen Z founders should learn this great lesson.The success of an individual lies in helping the people close to them grow along with their own growth.

Dr. A. L. Rao, you showed a path to this life and corporate lesson.
We teach ethics and corporate governance. Maybe I would recommend teaching only the life lessons of great leaders like Azim Premji Sir, Dr. Rao, and others—"the life outside, the life inside, and the life innerside”.

Dr. Rao had that spiritual inner side. He left the body, but his soul reached the right destination.

Thank you for providing all the opportunities that helped me become who I am today, Rao Garu.

Adieu... Forever remembering you.

Ravi Saripalle

The Myth of Self-Made Success and Great Managers Build Systems, Not Stars

Dear Friends,

Forty years ago, I heard about an incident involving one of my relatives. In their village, an envious post office clerk hid a neighbor's offer letter and failed to deliver it to the candidate on time. He delivered it only after the joining date. In those days, the postman used to decide the fate of an individual. Think about it—no SMS, WhatsApp message, email, or any indication of an offer. The final letter would arrive only by mail. Any clerical mistake or personal grudge could decide your fate!

We all think, I can stand on my own, live on my own, and succeed in life without anybody's support. This is the greatest myth.

The strict gate-closing policy for NEET exams mandates that students be denied entry if they arrive even a minute late. Recently, we have seen so much chaos and the tears of children and parents.

The bus is late. The train is late. The road is blocked by a traffic jam. But they are all acceptable in society. Yet, let a student be two minutes late. Suddenly, understanding expires. The gate closes.

What I realize from this is our dependency on support and the ecosystem around us. No matter how great the achievement is, there is always some support behind the scenes.

A couple of days back, I read two news items simultaneously.

News #1: Better India posted this incident. Just months before JEE Advanced, Gunjan Kumar's IIT dream nearly came to a halt. A collapsed lung left him bedridden for almost three months. Attending classes wasn't even an option. So his mother quietly stepped in.

She attended every online lecture, made detailed notes by hand, and sat beside him so that his preparation wouldn't stop. A homemaker with a B.Ed. degree, she returned to her studies after years—not for herself, but for her son's dream. As if that wasn't enough, Gunjan was also living with over 70% vision loss. Yet, he refused to give up. He is now set to pursue Computer Science at IIT Delhi.

Success isn't built by one person's hard work alone. It is built by the people who quietly carry your dream when you can no longer carry it yourself.

News #2: A Class 9 girl brought her 1.5-year-old brother to school because, after her mother passed away and with her father at work, there was no one else to care for him. She chose education anyway—proof that progress comes from moving forward, not from waiting for perfect conditions.

An elephant herd rescues a trapped calf because survival depends on the strength of the herd, not the individual. Buffaloes form a protective circle around their calves, proving that systems protect their weakest members first.

Geese fly in a V-formation, sharing leadership and reducing the effort required for the entire flock. Penguins survive Antarctic winters by rotating positions, showing that shared responsibility sustains the system. Trees in a forest exchange nutrients through underground fungal networks, demonstrating that hidden connections create resilience. A beehive thrives because thousands of bees perform specialized roles toward one common purpose. Wolf packs hunt successfully because each member plays a complementary role in the system.

Our success is not ours alone! Many people silently contribute to our success. If we forget them, it is our loss. God will not spare us!!

That is why great managers don't build stars—they build systems where everyone contributes to collective success.

Ravi Saripalle

AI Is Changing Jobs. Innovation Doesn't Guarantee Jobs. Are We Changing Education? What Is Left for Humans?

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, I was invited by Ratan Tata Innovation Hub (RTIH) to address educators on Design Thinking for Problem Solving. There were around 80 participants, including Deans (R&D), Professors, Innovation Council members, etc.

One of the interesting questions was, "We were unable to motivate students towards innovation, as we were unable to provide convincing justification that innovation leads to jobs. Students are looking for jobs, and the job selection process is not demanding innovation-driven outcomes. Hence, students are losing interest in this process." Yes, I agree with the participant's view, but we need to be personally convinced that participating in the innovation process helps students sustain employment in the future.

When I started the "Inspire to Innovate (i2i)" storytelling movement in 2011, this question was raised 15 years ago. It was the same situation and the same opinion. When I started the Design Thinking campaign in 2020 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rga2aqobKgs), the question remained the same, as did the opinion.

In 2026, when an AI model can read 750,000 words (≈2,500 pages) in minutes, which usually takes a human 3–5 weeks of full-time effort, who is needed in companies? When 30,000 lines of code can be written in minutes, and refinement after a few prompts takes only a few hours, whereas the same task requires 4–8 developers working for 2–6 months, who is needed in the IT industry? An HR professional generally takes five days to review 1,000 resumes, whereas an AI model can do it in 30 minutes. Who is needed in the HR department?

There are two indispensable skills needed in the industry: the Problem-Solving Mindset and the Art of Storytelling.

Read this story. A couple of days back, TOI published an article on Ford. It has brought back more than 350 retired or laid-off senior technical specialists, affectionately called "Gray Beards," to lead physical quality reviews. It seems AI-driven inspection systems consistently failed to detect critical mechanical and design errors before vehicles rolled off the assembly line.

At the human level, there is another quality we need to develop in our next generation of children. In English, there are four words.

Pity means feeling sorry for someone, but from a distance. You see that they are suffering, but you usually do not do anything to help. Sympathy means you care about someone who is going through a difficult time. You may offer kind words or comfort, but you may not fully understand what they are feeling.Empathy means trying to understand how the other person feels by putting yourself in their place. You connect with their emotions and understand their pain. Compassion goes one step further. It means you understand their suffering and also want to do something to help reduce it.

In simple words: Pity says, "I feel sorry for you." Sympathy says, "I care about you." Empathy says, "I understand how you feel." Compassion says, "I understand your pain, and I want to help you."

The projects we provide to our students should cultivate empathy and compassion. Unfortunately, many students are failing to develop these two qualities nowadays.

In summary, we should promote three aspects—Compassion and/or Empathy, the Problem-Solving Mindset, and finally the Art of Storytelling. These three can define Engineering, Management, and Design Education, and the survival strategy for 2035!!

Do you agree?

Ravi Saripalle