Mr. S.D. Shibulal, co-founded Infosys in 1981 and led the company in different capacities since its inception. He was a member of the Board of Infosys and was its CEO & MD between 2011 and 2014. Amongst his innumerable achievements during his time at Infosys, he is especially proud of being instrumental in creating the Global Delivery Model.  The model established a new standard for delivery of outsourced IT services. He serves on several global leadership forums and advisory boards.                                                                                                                                                                         In 2014, Shibu co-founded Axilor Ventures – a new generation platform to improve odds of success of entrepreneurs. With three distinct programmes: accelerator, scale-up and early stage funding, Axilor provides infrastructure, mentoring and capital for high-impact, India –focussed start-ups (in the areas of e-commerce, Healthcare and Cleantech).

Driven by his passion for Education and for developing the leaders managing the K-12 Government schools across India, Shibu incorporated ShikshaLokam, an Education Leadership Development platform in 2016. Now active in multiple States, ShikshaLokam offers open-source technology capabilities and learning and management resources to more than 300,000 leaders, in partnership with State Governments and leading Civil Society Organizations.

Shibu serves on the board of several organisations promoting education. He is Trustee of the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust; a Member of the Board of Trustees, Boston University and a Member of the Board of Managers of Haverford College, Philadelphia. He is also the Chairman of the High Power Digital Advisory Committee (HPDAC)of Kerala.

In conversation with Deepak Nanda from CSRBOX he talks about the following:

1. Your parents wanted you to venture into the teaching field but instead, you became an engineer and co-founded- Infosys, one of the most successful IT companies in the country. And today having started ShikshaLokam, do you think that in a way you are realizing that dream of your parents?

2. In your professional career, you have made tremendous strides with respect to a global delivery system, project management, e-commerce, and introducing Infosys 3.0 to propel Infosys into the next phase of evolution. How are you using the same innovative approach to transform education in India with ShikshaLokam?

3. Since technology has been a major part of your career and you have seen it transform processes. What role do you think technology will play in revolutionizing education space and now that it is required more than ever with hindrance in the offline mode?

4. Currently, ShikshaLokam works with government schools primarily. How would you say is the response in those schools when you merge your intervention with what is already present?

5. You have been an advocate of scientific research for helping advance humanity. How are you using a research-based model to make sure ShikshaLokam remains relevant and provides sustainable outcomes and does not get written off as just another education intervention?

6. As mentioned in an interview you believe that we are a country of contradictions. The same holds true for education and the diversity of the same across the country. Then how do you intend to leverage the same or work around it to make ShikshaLokam viable for anyone and everyone? 

7. Lastly, what would be your suggestion to the people in the domain of education on how to approach it? 

Impact-Talk is a series of views and interviews of CSR heads, impact leaders and change-makers, addressing development challenges in India. If you have an impact-maker in your network, please suggest/share details at csr@ngobox.org