Narayana Murthy News

TCS even though there was no IT industry to speak of. What followed was one of the great acts of industrial creation in post-independence India.The foundations of what is today a $300 billion industry were built on his clarity about the opportunity.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Indians work some of the longest hours in a week globally. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Indian employees also report high levels of burnout.

RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka has stepped into the ongoing conversation around India’s startup culture and work ethic, aligning himself with two high-profile voices—Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy. Goenka’s remarks, made via social media on 5 April, came in the wake of criticism directed at Goyal for questioning the direction of India’s startup ecosystem. The minister recently stirred a storm with his comments at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025. “When Murthy and Subrahmanyan spoke of 70-90 hour work weeks, and Piyush Goyal questioned startups making vegan ice creams and chasing 10-minute deliveries, they weren’t being literal—they were being directional. They were asking: what are we really building?” Goenka posted on X.

With nearly $11 billion in funding, India has emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. Yet, this growth comes with challenges—around 5,000 startups shut down in 2024 due to funding constraints, scalability issues, market saturation, governance lapses, and policy hurdles.

Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy, while speaking at the TiECon Mumbai on Wednesday commented on the rising hype around artificial intelligence (AI) in India, claiming that many systems marketed today as AI were simply traditional programming. “I think somehow it has become a fashion in India to talk of AI for everything. I have seen several normal, ordinary programs touted as AI,” Murthy commented during the annual entrepreneurial conference.

Infosys cofounder N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday sought to calm the «exaggerated» hype around artificial intelligence (AI) in India, noting that many systems being labelled AI were nothing more than old programming. “I think somehow it has become a fashion in India to talk of AI for everything. I have seen several normal, ordinary programs touted as AI,” he remarked at TiECon Mumbai, an annual conference of entrepreneurs. In a conversation with TiE Mumbai founding president Harish Mehta, Murthy explained that there are two fundamental principles behind true AI: the first is machine learning, which enables large-scale correlation to make predictions; the second is deep learning, which mimics how the human brain works, using unsupervised algorithms.

job seekers, especially new graduates, often apply to jobs blindly without even a cursory background research. Billionaire Harsh Goenka recently poked fun at this tendency. Taking to X on Tuesday, the business tycoon shared a picture of a rooster standing solemnly in front of a KFC (Kentucky’s Fried Chicken) outlet and pointed out the not-too-subtle irony. “When you know nothing about the company and go for an interview...” he wrote.

Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU), more than 100 people gathered at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Sunday to advocate for a healthy work-life balance in the IT sector. Expressing disappointment over the turnout, KITU advisor Vasanthraj said that, given Bengaluru's status as a tech hub, at least 6,000 people should have participated to make their collective voice heard. «The hard reality is that IT industry captains are minting profits through the dollar exchange rate but end up squeezing workers. In the last three decades, the IT industry should have become an IT product giant. But despite moving up a few steps in the value chain, it remains a service industry,» said Vasanthraj. KITU member Ram said the protest was organised to counter recent remarks by Infosys Chairman Emeritus Narayana Murthy and L&T Chairman and Managing Director S N Subrahmanyan, who have blamed workers for the sector's failure to move up the value chain.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. About 20 years ago, the five-day week was not common in India. Some people in an office in Mumbai approached their boss to demand it.

mental health challenges among employees even as industry leaders like NR Narayana Murthy and L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan gun for longer work hours and working weekends.

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has revisited his stance, emphasizing that no one should be forced into long working hours. Murthy explained that such decisions should be a matter of personal introspection rather than societal imposition.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When someone says something that sounds politically correct, you may doubt whether they really mean it. But when someone advocates an idea that is so out of tune with the current reality and changing times, there is no doubt they mean what they say.

SN Subrahmanyan's remarks that he wished employees to work Sundays, CPIML (Liberation) MP Raja Ram Singh on Friday wrote to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asking him to penalise any violation of laws on working hours in offices. In a letter to the labour minister, Singh also quoted a statement by Infosys Co-founder Narayana Murthy advocating a 70-hour workweek, and others like Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola and Sajjan Jindal of Jindal Steel Works publicly supporting such a proposal. Subrahmanyan's remarks advocating a 90-hour workweek and working Sundays sparked outrage online. «How long can you stare at your wife,» he is heard saying in a purported video address to employees where he urged them to spend less time at home and more in the office. CPIML (Liberation) leader Singh urged the Union minister to initiate measures to ensure strict enforcement of laws governing working hours.

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's 70-hour workweek suggestion. This statement, made during an internal conversation, was leaked on social media and quickly gained attention, leading to mixed reactions from both employees and the wider public.

Anupam Mittal, Shark Tank India judge and founder of People Group, welcomed the New Year with a sharp dose of sarcasm, blending humor with commentary on the hotly debated topic of a 70-hour work week. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Mittal cheekily addressed the ongoing discussion, writing, “All those worried about 70-hour work weeks, relax!” He further added a futuristic twist, saying, “AI gonna take our jobs so we will have all the time to chill in 2025,” pairing his unconventional message with a Happy New Year greeting.

work-life balance debate continues to be a topic of intense discussion in India. Over the past year, several prominent figures, from Narayana Murthy to Rishad Premji, shared their views, adding depth to the ongoing conversation on what constitutes a healthy balance between professional and personal life.

AI tools, with businesses everywhere exploring ways to integrate AI into their operations. Be it boardroom or living rooms, today, no conversation feels complete without mentioning AI.

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy on Friday described the late Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as a “gentleman, a scholar, and a value-based politician.”

Zoho Corporation's CEO Sridhar Vembu has sparked the 70-hour work week debate once again by backing Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy.

Michael Dell, the CEO of Dell Technologies, believes in the principle of «working smarter, not harder,» emphasising that enjoyment and balance are key to long-term success. Speaking on the podcast In Good Company, Dell explained, “I realised long ago that there’s a point of diminishing returns to the hours worked in a day. And if you’re going to do something for a long time, you better find the [right mixture of] working, playing, and relaxing.”