FOUNDING MD OF MICROSOFT INDIA DEVELOPMENT CENTRE(MSIDC)
The life and career of Srini Koppolu, Managing Director, Microsoft India Development Centre (MIDC) is a source of inspiration for many young IT professionals. The journey from his hometown in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh to Redmond in the US is an absorbing story. For Koppolu himself, the two major milestones in his career have been joining Microsoft at Redmond and setting up its Hyderabad facility.Srini was theyoungest in his family. His father was a tobacco merchant who passed away when he was just two. He studied at the Municipal High School in Ongole. He had never heard of the IITs or the migration path of engineers to the US. His ultimate goal was to study at the Andhra University and he fulfilled his desire by securing a seat in mechanical engineering at the institution. Later, Srini did his MS in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana, US. Srini has two sisters and a brother.
Opting for Computer Science was a turning point in his life. He joined Microsoft in 1988 and spent a decade at the Redmond facility developing products. Srini held various positions at Redmond including development lead and development manager in different product groups. He has been a key contributor to the development of Microsoft Office and Windows. He designed Microsoft's Component Technology called COM that resulted in a revolution of component-based development in the software industry. Srini also worked on Office 95 and Office 97, and is one of the creators of the office core infrastructure group. He was also responsible for the Webfeatures in Office and designed the architecture for componentising Internet Explorer 3.0. Koppolu believes in innovative ideas and prefers to work on new technologies.
"If you do not know where you are going, how do you realise it when you get there? Industry leaders and experts alike need to keep their eyes on the target. If they want their plan to work, they must work their plan," says Srini advising young engineering graduates to focus on their career. According to him, there is a need for every IT graduate to develop his own expertise and compete in the industry. Young engineers with specific skill sets can grab good opportunities in the IT industry. Srini has many years of experience in developing innovative products,driving global R&D initiatives, building large scale organizations grounds up. He was involved in many strategic initiatives throughout his 21 years career at Microsoft, and he holds more than 20 global patents.
Srini worked in Redmond for 9 years as an R&D leader developing technologies for Windows and later developing Office 95 and Office 97.Srini moved to India in 1998 to set up Microsoft India Development Center (MSIDC). Over the next 12 years, Srini evolved MSIDC from a start-up to Microsoft’s largest product development center outside of the US with 1500 plus employees developing core products and technologies that impact millions of customers across the world. He built a strong brand for MSIDC as an organization that innovates and makes a global impact and made it the primary destination for India’s top talent! Srini played a major role in driving Microsoft’s global software development strategy partnering with leaders of China and Israel development centers and with many senior Microsoft executives.
After leaving Microsoft in October 2010, Srini started advising and investing in start-ups, and he is the first President of Hyderabad Angel Network. He made angel investments in more than 10 start-ups. He is currently the Chairman of SETU Software Systems developing www.veooz.com, one of the many start-ups he invested in. Srini is very passionate about building a strong R&D talent in India and has started an initiative called Mission R&D (www.missionrnd.com) to prepare CS/IT engineers for product development roles. Srini also has been the Chairman of the International School of Hyderabad (www.ishyd.org) advisory board and helped transform ISH into one of the top international schools in India.
