Early Life
Romesh Tekchand Wadhwani was born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan), in August 1947, shortly after the partition of India. His family moved to India soon after. Wadhwani contracted polio at the age of two, which presented challenges, including difficulties with school admission. Despite these early obstacles, he persevered, earning a Bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay). He then moved to the United States to pursue his Master's and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Rise to Success
Wadhwani's entrepreneurial journey began with the founding of Compuguard Corporation in 1972, followed by American Robot Corporation. However, his most significant success came with Aspect Development, Inc., a B2B software firm that he founded and led. Aspect Development was acquired by i2 Technologies in 2000 for $9.3 billion. He later founded Symphony Technology Group (STG) in 2002, a private equity firm focused on software, Internet, and technology services companies. STG was reorganized as STG Partners in 2017.
Key Business Strategies
Wadhwani's success is attributed to several key strategies. He has a knack for identifying opportunities in the technology sector, founding and leading companies in the enterprise software space. His approach includes strategic investments and operational expertise, scaling ventures into multi-billion-dollar enterprises. He is also known for his focus on building and partnering with management teams to deliver increased value to clients, retain talent, and improve business performance. Currently, Wadhwani is the Chairman of SymphonyAI, an enterprise AI firm.
Philanthropy
Romesh Wadhwani is a dedicated philanthropist, establishing the Wadhwani Foundation in 2000. The foundation focuses on accelerating job creation and economic development in emerging economies, particularly in India, but also in other countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Initiatives include the National Entrepreneurship Network and skills college networks. He has donated over $1 billion to the foundation and pledged 80% of his remaining assets to it.