BENGALURU: Infosys co-founder and Axilor Chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan called upon all industries and entrepreneurs to move from being implementers of others’ ideas and become inventors.
During a session -- India Futurises: From Leap-frogging to Pole-vaulting -- at the Bengaluru Tech Summit on Tuesday, he said, “There are new spaces in quantum AI, where nobody is a leader yet and that’s the space where we can move. Karnataka has the largest talent base in the country when it comes to technology.” He said the state has to now reimagine its role from a service-led growth to a produce-led growth, and added that it is necessary for Karnataka to pole-vault.
“How much are industries investing in R&D?” Gopalakrishnan said, asking industries to evaluate this. “Industries must make sure that they are investing more than the global average. How much of the R&D is within the company versus outside the company? I think 50% of the R&D must be invested outside the company, so that forces us to look at startups and academic institutions, etc.”
He called upon industries to look at what percentage of current revenue comes from products and technology introduced in the last three to five years, and mentioned that it will tell how fast the industries are renewing their product portfolio.
Stressing the need for industries to play an active role in ensuring their innovation ecosystem is strong, Gopalakrishnan said innovation need not always be done by startups, large industries should also innovate.
IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge said, “If we want to pole-vault, we need to create local economic engines for innovation and invention. We need to build a solid base of skills, top it up with accelerators, top that up with centres of excellence, top that up with budget and top that up with policy.”
“We will be able to get the right talent to invent and innovate, not just for Karnataka but for the world,” he said, adding that in a year or two, everyone will see great results from the state government’s Beyond Bengaluru initiative.