In Tech She Trusts

A TECHIE AT HEART, RAI IS STEERING INTEL INDIA ON ITS JOURNEY FROM A PC-CENTRIC TO A DATA-CENTRIC COMPANY TO KEEP UP WITH THE NEW DATA-DRIVEN DIGITAL WORLD.

- Anshul Dhamija

NIVRUTI RAI

49, COUNTRY HEAD, INTEL INDIA AND VICE PRESIDENT, DATA CENTER GROUP, INTEL (45)

KEY NO CHANGE MOVED UP MOVED DOWN NEW RETURNEE

THE BIRTH OF A THIRD DAUGHTER FOR BUDDHI SAGAR RAI IN NOVEMBER 1969 WAS MET WITH GLOOM IN HIS EXTENDED FAMILY. AS HE WAS A GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE, MANY WERE WORRIED HE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO MARRY OFF HIS THREE DAUGHTERS — BACK THEN DOWRY WAS AN ACCEPTED norm. But Buddhi Sagar Rai’s parents were ecstatic at the birth of another granddaughter, who was named Nivruti, which means salvation. “One of the astrologers they [my grandparents] believed in had said, ‘This girl has the capability of becoming the president or prime minister of a country’,” recalls Nivruti Rai, who was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. “After hearing that, everybody celebrated.”

Rai might not be president of a country today but the astrologers weren’t far off the mark. She grew up to become country head of Intel India, the Indian unit of the $70-billion U.S.-based semiconductor behemoth that counts India as its key global market. It’s a role that also places Rai at a high No. 19 on Fortune India’s 2019 Most Powerful Women in business list, up from 45 last year. The staggering jump is hardly surprising: Under Rai’s leadership, Intel India has become Intel’s largest research and development (R&D) centre outside of the U.S., doubling its capacity in the last four years. And that’s just one part of the story.